For hospitals, rest homes and health providers in Aotearoa New Zealand
Ngā Paerewa software, built to help you achieve certification.
wai runs booking, signed clinical notes, patient and whānau messaging, payments and an audit trail on one record, so the files a designated auditing agency samples are complete before it arrives. Hospitals, rest homes and multi-site groups use it to give people a better experience of care and to walk into a Ngā Paerewa audit with the evidence already kept.
Six outcome-focused sections, audited only where they apply to the services you provide.
Six sections and their subsections under NZS 8134:2021, audited only where they apply. Open a section for the subsections behind it.1
01Our rightsPeople and whānau are informed, respected, protected from abuse, able to make choices and able to complain, with services that uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Code of Rights.10 subsections
1.1 Pae ora healthy futures
1.2 Ola manuia of Pacific peoples in Aotearoa
1.3 My rights during service delivery
1.4 I am treated with respect
1.5 I am protected from abuse
1.6 Effective communication occurs
1.7 I am informed and able to make choices
1.8 I have the right to complain
1.9 Health and wellbeing of children born as a result of, and people accessing, reproductive technology services
03Pathways to wellbeingEntry, assessment and care planning, activities, medication, nutrition, and safe transition, transfer and discharge.8 subsections
04Person-centred and safe environmentThe facility and the security of the people in it, from the building warrant of fitness to the call system and the evacuation scheme.2 subsections
05Infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardshipGovernance of infection prevention, the programme and its implementation, antimicrobial stewardship, surveillance of health care-associated infection and the environment.5 subsections
5.1 Governance
5.2 The infection prevention programme and implementation
5.3 Antimicrobial stewardship programme and implementation
5.4 Surveillance of health care-associated infection
06Restraint and seclusionA process of restraint, safe restraint, quality review of restraint and seclusion, where a service uses them at all.4 subsections
Six things the Ministry's auditor handbook tells designated auditing agencies to sample, trace and report.2
01
Documents, before the visit
Stage one reviews policies and procedures off site, and the provider gets the findings at least a week before stage two.
02
Clinical files
At least the square root of the number of people receiving services at certification, never fewer than five, chosen by the auditor.
03
Interviews
People and whānau, staff on every shift and role, and anyone who asks to be interviewed.
04
Medication records
Twice as many medication records as clinical files, outside public hospitals.
05
Tracers
At least one per service type, following a person's care through the record, the ward and the staff.
06
Surveys and feedback
Any satisfaction survey since the last audit, with its results and what was done about them.
How is a Ngā Paerewa audit rated?
Each subsection and criterion is rated for attainment and for risk, and the Director-General decides certification and its length.3
Fully attained (FA)Criterion met in full
Partially attained (PA)Corrective action required
Unattained (UA)Corrective action required
Continuous improvement (CI)Beyond full attainment, measured
5 years
is the longest certification the Director-General may grant under section 29 of the Act, and more than 3 only to a provider already certified and improving.3
1 to 5 days
is how long an audit typically takes on site, depending on the size and complexity of the service.4
5
people at least are interviewed, with their clinical files reviewed, at every audit, however small the service.2
Every partially attained or unattained finding gets a corrective action request, with timeframes and a reporting method.
A critical risk needs corrective action signed off by an auditor within 24 hours, and HealthCERT is told before the auditors leave the site.
One surveillance audit falls at the mid-point of certification, and for aged residential care it is unannounced, a spot audit.
Audit summaries for rest homes are published in the Ministry's database of certified providers.
What is changing for certified providers?
Where things stand in October 2026, in force and proposed kept apart.
The Ministry is reviewing Ngā Paerewa. Its first consultation closed on 16 March 2026, and a further in-depth consultation may follow. NZS 8134:2021 stays in force until any change is made.
The Designated Auditing Agency Handbook was revised in 2025 and last updated on 8 December 2025. It sets how agencies sample, rate and report today.5
Since 1 July 2024, pressure injuries in aged residential care are reported to Te Tāhū Hauora through its adverse events process, which shares them with HealthCERT.
HDC sent the Minister recommended changes to the Code of Rights and its Act on 20 December 2024. They are proposals, and the Code in force is unchanged.
Who needs certification, and what applies to everyone else
Certification attaches to the service, and section 4 of the Act decides which services count.
Under section 9 of the Act, hospital care, rest home care and residential disability care may be provided only while certified by the Director-General of Health and while meeting the relevant service standards. Fertility services are certified too.3
The Ministry lists the providers that must comply with Ngā Paerewa as primary birthing centres, hospices, overnight hospital inpatient services, public and private, age-related residential care, residential addiction services, mental health services, disability services and fertility services. Home and community support and abortion services use it too.
Hospital care means children's health, geriatric, maternity, medical, mental health or surgical services in premises held out as able to accommodate 2 or more people for 24 hours or longer. A specialist clinic, dental or aesthetic practice or day-stay centre with no overnight beds needs no HealthCERT certificate.
Every provider, certified or not, owes people the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights, and the national adverse events policy 2023 covers all providers of health and disability services in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Provider
HealthCERT certificate
What applies
Private hospital or surgical centre with overnight beds
Yes, hospital care
Ngā Paerewa, audits, section 31 notices, the Code of Rights
Ngā tohu ratonga hauora, certification of health care services.
Te Tāhū Hauora, the Health Quality & Safety Commission.
Te Whatu Ora, Health New Zealand.
Whānau, the family and support network the standard asks providers to partner with.
What should software for a certified provider actually run?
Each module runs part of the service and keeps the evidence for the Ngā Paerewa sections listed beside it.
01
Appointments and booking
Online booking from your own website, every clinician's diary read from their calendar, reminders, rebooking after a missed visit and waitlist offers when a slot opens.
Online booking at any hour, with a reminder before the visit.
For the business
Fewer missed appointments, and cancelled slots offered to the waitlist.
On the record
Every booking, reminder and change, with a time and a name.
02
Billing and payments
Card payments into your own Stripe account, the cancellation policy shown at booking, invoices, statements and reconciliation, with an export for your accountant.
A clear price and policy before they commit, and an invoice in their app.
For the business
Payments reconciled against visits, with an export for your accountant.
On the record
What was charged, when, against which visit, and the policy the patient saw.
03
AI scribe and clinical notes
The note, letters and referrals written from the consultation, cited to published clinical guidelines, with the transcript beside the note, for the clinician to read, edit and sign.
The clinician's attention stays on them during the consultation.
For the business
Less time spent writing notes after clinic.
On the record
A contemporaneous note, signed, with the time, the signature and the source it cites.
04
Follow-ups and patient messaging
WhatsApp, email and calls in one thread per patient, replies drafted in the patient's own language for your team to approve, a response clock on every new enquiry, and recalls a clinician approves.
A reply in the language they wrote in, approved by your team.
For the business
More enquiries answered within the hour, when they are most likely to book.
On the record
The whole conversation on one record, with response times.
05
Referrals, consent and audit trails
Recording consent taken at booking, referrals written from the visit, patient flags for controlled drugs and safeguarding notes, and every read of a record logged against a named account.
What is the best software for Ngā Paerewa certification?
The best software is the system your service already runs on, so the evidence is a by-product of the work. Look for one record behind booking, signed notes, messages with people and whānau, payments and access, a full audit trail and records kept in New Zealand. wai is built that way, to help you achieve Ngā Paerewa certification.
Is there HealthCERT approved software?
HealthCERT, the Ministry of Health's certification team, administers certification of hospitals, rest homes, residential disability care and fertility services under the Health and Disability Services (Safety) Act 2001. It does not approve, certify or endorse software, wai included, and software cannot earn a certification on a provider's behalf. wai keeps the records your team uses to show HealthCERT how care is delivered, and HealthCERT decides the certification.
Does my clinic need HealthCERT certification?
Only if it provides hospital care, rest home care, residential disability care or fertility services. Under the Act, hospital care means premises held out as able to accommodate 2 or more people for 24 hours or longer, so a clinic or day-stay centre with no overnight beds is not certified, and the Code of Rights and the national adverse events policy still apply to it.
How long does Ngā Paerewa certification last?
Up to five years, at the Director-General's discretion. A provider must already be certified and improving to be given more than three, and one surveillance audit falls at the mid-point.
Who carries out a Ngā Paerewa audit?
A designated auditing agency that you choose and contract, designated by the Director-General under section 32 of the Act for the kind of service you provide. The Ministry lists four on its website in October 2026.
Are rest home surveillance audits announced?
No. Surveillance audits of aged residential care and of residential disability psychiatric services are unannounced spot audits, held within three months either side of the due date.
How fast must a provider answer a complaint?
Under Right 10 of the Code of Rights, a complaint is acknowledged in writing within 5 working days, and within 10 working days of that the provider decides whether it is justified or how much more time it needs.
Where does wai keep our records?
In New Zealand, under New Zealand's rules, encrypted, with a full audit log. We set this up with you before go-live.
Fifteen minutes on video, on a file your auditor could sample. Built to help you achieve Ngā Paerewa certification. wai hosts each clinic's records in its own country, under that country's rules. We set this up with you before go-live.
