# Hospice NZ — Hospice Community Specialist Palliative Care Core Service Components (November 2023) Document ID: doc-0177 Publisher/source: Te Kahu Pairuri o Aotearoa – Hospice New Zealand Physical PDF pages: 29 Document/version date: 2023-11-08 Original capture/access label: June 2026 Original and primary sources reviewed: 10 October 2026 [Preserved bundled original](/pdfs/2023%20-%20Hospice%20NZ%20-%20Palliative%20Care%20Core%20Service%20Components.pdf) [Primary publisher context](https://www.hospice.org.nz/hospice_community_specialist_palliative_care_core_service_components) ## What the document contributes Hospice New Zealand’s 29-page framework, dated 8 November 2023, describes the community specialist palliative-care services that regional networks should make available to patients and whānau. It covers referral, coordinated care, community and inpatient services, workforce development and governance. The cover paper expressly acknowledges uneven services, funding and workforce constraints: these are proposed expectations and planning tools, not proof that every hospice currently delivers every component or that the anticipated 2025 commissioning work was completed. The framework combines a health-system cover paper with patient/whānau-centred service descriptions and enabling functions. Its scope includes hospice inpatient facilities but excludes hospital services and does not define the full core service for primary/generalist palliative care. It connects care networks with the Hospice Service Variation and Costing model, the 2019 palliative-care standards and other cited frameworks. Appendices provide standards links, service/costing descriptions, adult referral criteria and SPICT. Read the expectations against the document’s explicit funding and delivery limitations; the current publisher-linked file remains byte-identical to this historical document. ## Included material - Health-system context, commissioning, variation and intended next steps (physical pp. 2–5) - Introduction, specialist/generalist scope and general principles (pp. 7–11) - Referral, service delivery, community, inpatient and integration components (pp. 12–17) - Workforce, service improvement, quality, leadership and governance (pp. 18–21) - Standards mapping and HSVC service descriptions (pp. 22–25) - Adult specialist referral criteria and SPICT supporting tool (pp. 26–29) ## Substantive findings - The cover dates the document 8 November 2023. The publisher landing page is dated 4 July 2024; those are different document/page dates, not evidence of a 2024 rewrite. The local and live linked PDFs both have 29 physical pages and matched bytes on 10 October 2026. - The cover paper says national consistency will take time and extra resources. Its working-standard expectation belongs to a service network, rather than requiring a single hospice to supply everything (physical pp. 2–3). - The introduction expressly says the components describe what should be available, not existing provision; government/hospice funding and Crown contracts did not cover all components at the document date (p. 7). - Community specialist scope includes hospice inpatient facilities but excludes hospital services. Primary/generalist palliative care remains a distinct scope supported by specialist partnerships (pp. 7–8). - The five service areas are referral criteria, service delivery, community-based specialist care, inpatient specialist care and integration with other services (pp. 12–17). - The framework proposes round-the-clock community advice/support and advice to primary providers; these are expectations, not verified local response hours, visiting capacity or inpatient vacancies (pp. 15, 17). - Enabling functions cover staff capability, education, quality improvement, cultural audit, feedback, outcomes and governance; the document is not a staffing headcount or FTE dataset (pp. 18–21). - The 2023 cover paper anticipated commissioning/funding work concluding in 2025 and an adult model-of-care group during January–June 2024. These historical schedules do not establish completion or current implementation (pp. 2, 4–5). ## Identity, dates and provenance Preserved original SHA-256: 66156af52e1b0e199744ead9f870144f6b16f862aad8bedbb592caf495246848 (617,868 bytes, 29 physical pages). All original bytes and the exact filename remain unchanged. Earlier generic Parliament source URL and inaccurate catalogue count are preserved in the scoped audit fixture as capture history. Physical pp. 1–29 are individually numbered. The publisher-linked primary file matched the original byte-for-byte on the review date. The stated 2025 commissioning schedule remains a historical intention in this document; this audit does not establish its completion. Neither a listed component nor the appendix referral criteria demonstrates present acceptance, visiting capacity or an available bed. [Current publisher-linked download](https://assets.nationbuilder.com/hospicenz/pages/262/attachments/original/1720045905/HSPC_Core_Service_Comp_%E2%80%93_November_2023_FINAL.pdf?1720045905=) This current download has 29 physical pages and SHA-256 66156af52e1b0e199744ead9f870144f6b16f862aad8bedbb592caf495246848; byte-identical to the preserved original: yes. No newer PDF was substituted into this record. ## Practical use and implications Use the component map to ask which regional partners provide each service, compare commissioned coverage and identify evidence needed to assess gaps. Confirm current contracts, referral criteria, staffing and local availability separately. - Offers a historical sector framework for equitable regional commissioning; its expectations are not legislation or a verified national implementation result. - Map partnerships, workforce capability, costing and quality evidence before treating a proposed component as funded or operational. - Use the expectations as questions for the local care team. Current Hospice NZ guidance says services vary, local referral criteria apply and hospice care is free for patients/whānau using its services. ## Evidence boundaries Historical sector-developed service framework, not an enforceable national entitlement, current service directory, clinical prescription or delivered-capacity audit. Document date 8 November 2023 differs from publisher page 4 July 2024 and review 10 October 2026. Proposed 24/7 support and 2025 work completion are not verified delivery. Physical 29-page original, hash, filename and June 2026 capture are preserved; live linked file was byte-identical at review. No individual medical or legal advice, allocation assessment, booking, price check or proof of local delivery is supplied. Review day, historic capture, printed document/version dates, production metadata and current source changes are separate. ## Primary context references - [Hospice Core](https://www.hospice.org.nz/hospice_community_specialist_palliative_care_core_service_components) — Publisher page displayed 4 July 2024 and links the byte-identical 8 November 2023 document. - [Hospice Current](https://www.hospice.org.nz/hospice-guide) — Current publisher guidance says hospice care is free for patients and whanau using its services; services vary and local referral criteria apply, with provider or self-referral routes. ## Research evidence The complete preserved PDF page text, metadata, hashes, current-download comparison, primary references and retrieval limitations are recorded in artifacts/research/end-of-life-carer-source-audit-2026-10-10.json. The original PDF was visually checked. Primary sources were checked on 10 October 2026; phone/email response or service availability was not tested.