Media Release
April 13, 2006
Disability Consumers Asked to Have Their Say
The Ministry of Health is encouraging disability consumers to have their say on Government funded services they receive.
A series of consumer fora, hui and fono are being held around the country, starting yesterday in Wellington and
finishing up in Christchurch late next month.
Deputy Director-General of Disability Services Geraldine Woods says, "the fora allow the Ministry to hear from consumers
about how they would like disability services to develop in the future."
"It's important that consumers have control over what services they need to have a quality life and the Ministry wants
to hear feedback on how it could be doing things better to meet each individuals needs," says Geraldine Woods.
"The Ministry looks forward to hearing from disability consumers about how it can continue to improve disability
services so that every New Zealander can enjoy the ordinary home life they deserve."
Ms Woods says, "the Ministry's Disability Services Directorate has already been working on creating this vision for the
future."
Geraldine Woods says, " the government has increased the Disability Services Directorate's funding by $61 million this
financial year, taking the first step in our long-term commitment to our continual improvement in the disability
services sector."
"The New Zealand Disability Strategy aims to improve the quality of disabled people's lives through good investment in
quality services. Disability consumers and their families having a say in the policy and service developments that
affect them is key", says Geraldine Woods.
The Ministry of Health will collate information gathered at all of the upcoming consumer fora and will consult with
disability consumers on an annual basis. This follows on from a series of smaller scale fora run last year.
ENDS