News and Updates

June 2023: New collection raises visibility of child and youth insights

A new Child and Youth Engagement Reports collection has been established on the government’s Child and Youth Wellbeing website, to help raise the visibility of insights and perspectives of children and young people. The government wants to ensure children and young people’s voices help to inform and influence policy development, programmes and services delivery, along with future engagements.

The collection pulls together reports of Aotearoa-based engagements undertaken by government agencies, NGOs, universities and youth-led initiatives. They cover a wide range of wellbeing areas, and range from small, qualitative engagements targeting specific population groups, to more extensive surveys involving thousands of children and young people.

Find out more here.

February 2023: COVID-19 vaccine approved for higher-risk tamariki aged between 6 months – 4 years

The Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday 8 February that the paediatric Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for children aged six months to four years who are at higher risk of severe disease if they were to catch COVID-19.

Eligible children include those who are severely immunocompromised, or who have complex and/or multiple health conditions which increase the risk of severe COVID-19 as detailed in the Starship table of underlying comorbidities, which includes: 

• Haematologic malignancy and post-transplant (HSCT in last 24 months or solid organ) 
• On immunosuppressive treatment including chemotherapy, high-dose corticosteroids, biologics or DMARDS

The vaccine will be available from Thursday 9 February at nominated vaccination clinics. More information is available on the Ministry of Health website.

December 2022: Starship open to family support coordinators

We are thrilled that our Family Support team is now able to access Starship to visit families in hospital. This is fantastic news and will strengthen our ability to build relationships and support families on treatment. CHOC also remains open to our staff.

Family support coordinators must return a negative RAT before entering the ward, and anyone who is a household contact will not be allowed access.

The health and safety of the children and families we support is our biggest priority, so staff members will continue taking a cautious approach in regards to their own health to minimise any risk.

December 2022

We received some very sad news about the death of Marie Purcell, who worked with us from 2012 until June 2022.

Marie will be sadly missed by our team and the wider Child Cancer Foundation community, many of whom worked alongside Marie in her role as GM Family Support Services. Our deepest sympathies go out to her family and friends at this time.

October 2022: COVID-19 update for whānau

After consultation with our health professional colleagues, we have made some changes to our COVID-19 policy in line with the current environment in Aotearoa.

Our Family Support team is able to visit families in their homes throughout the country, provided the family is comfortable for them to do so. The health and safety of the children and families we support is our biggest priority, so all staff members will be taking a cautious approach in regards to their own health to minimise any risk.

Our Christchurch team is able to visit CHOC to provide support to parents whose child is an inpatient. Siblings under 12 can also attend with the permission of the charge nurse.

Family support coordinators in Auckland are still not able to visit families at Starship, so the Auckland Family Place is open by appointment as a space for families to meet with a member of our team in person.

If you require any extra support or would like to clarify the support available to you at this time, please get in touch with your family support coordinator or our senior family support team leader, Shannyn Hansen on 027 432 0307.

May 2022: Covid-19 Vaccinations – National Child Cancer Network

April 2022: COVID-19 update for whānau

After consultation with our health professional colleagues, we have made some changes to our COVID-19 policy in line with the current environment in Aotearoa.

Our Family Support team is now able to visit families in their homes throughout the country, provided the family is comfortable for them to do so. Family Support Coordinators must return a negative Rapid Antigen Test prior to visiting the family.

Our Christchurch team is now able to visit CHOC to provide support to parents whose child is an inpatient, provided they also return a negative RAT prior to entering the hospital.

Family Support Coordinators in Auckland are still not able to visit families at Starship, so we have reopened the Auckland Family Place as a space for families to meet with a member of our team in person by appointment. Starship requires any family members on the ward to undertake a Rapid Antigen Test before being allowed access, so as a further safety precaution all Family Support Coordinators will also take a RAT prior to meeting with whānau in the Family Place.

If you require any extra support or would like to clarify the support available to you at this time, please get in touch with your Family Support Coordinator or our General Manager of Family Support, Marie Purcell on 021 538 557.

January 2022: Covid-19 Protection Framework – Red level

January 2022: Covid-19 Vaccinations – National Child Cancer Network

December 2021: Christmas shutdown period

Our Family Support Coordinators are taking a well-deserved break over the Christmas and New Year period between 24 December – 10 January. If you are a family requiring support over this time, please contact Marie Purcell, General Manager of Family Support, on 021 538 557.

December 2021: Moving to Orange

With the announcement that all regions currently at Red (except Northland) will be moving to Orange on 30 December, face-to-face visits will be able to resume for Family Support in these regions.

Our priority is to protect the health and safety of the tamariki and whānau we support, which means strict protocols will need to be followed for any face-to-face meetings. This includes health screening and social distancing, as well as ensuring all people aged 12 and over provide a valid vaccination pass.

We are awaiting direction from our health professional colleagues regarding hospital visits in Auckland at Orange. Support of families based in Northland will have to remain virtual while the region is at Red.

Our Family Place in Auckland will be open from 10 January by appointment only. Visitors will need to show proof of vaccination, wear face coverings and maintain social distancing.

Our holiday homes in Taupō and Arrowtown will be reopening on Saturday 22 January. Families will need to follow health and safety procedures during their stay, and all family members aged 12 and over will need to be fully vaccinated.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with your Family Support Coordinator or our General Manager of Family Support, Marie Purcell on 021 538 557.

December 2021: Covid-19 Protection Framework

At Child Cancer Foundation, our people work with families whose children are immunocompromised. We do not want to spread COVID-19 in our workplace or through our work practices. For this reason, only those with a valid vaccination pass will be able to enter our offices, as per the vaccination order. We will not enter other offices or homes where there may be non-vaccinated people due to the dangers of spreading the virus.

We have consulted with our health professional colleagues in terms of how our Family Support team will operate within the COVID-19 Protection Framework. Their advice is that we continue supporting whānau remotely in regions that are at Red to protect the health and safety of tamariki with cancer and their families.

Although we cannot undertake any home or face-to-face visits in regions that are at Red, our Family Support team is still able to support you and your whānau remotely. Face-to-face and hospital visits can take place in regions that are at Orange and Green provided the appropriate health and safety guidelines are followed.

If you require any extra support or would like to clarify the support available to you at this time, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with your Family Support Coordinator or our General Manager of Family Support, Marie Purcell on 021 538 557.

October 2021: National Party petition

You may have seen the National Party’s petition claiming that the Government is removing Kiwi kids’ free cancer treatment. The National Child Cancer Network (NCCN) – of which Child Cancer Foundation is a member – has responded to this and wants to reassure families of tamariki with cancer that they should not be concerned about any changes to the cost or accessibility of their child’s treatment.

The NCCN has put together some FAQs regarding the petition to ensure the correct information is available and hopefully reduce any concern or confusion. You can read them here.

October 2021: Covid-19 update – holiday homes

We hope you and your loved ones are safe and well. We would like to assure you that the outbreak of community cases in Aotearoa has not impacted our ability to provide one-to-one support for whānau. However, we have had to reflect on few areas of our support that have been compromised by the lockdowns.

Unfortunately this has led us to make the decision to temporarily close our holiday homes in Taupō and Arrowtown for the foreseeable future.

This will no doubt be disappointing for whānau who were looking forward to spending time at one of our holiday homes over the coming weeks, so we thank you for your understanding during these uncertain times.

If you have any questions about this update, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with your Family Support Coordinator or our General Manager of Family Support, Marie Purcell.

October 2021: Whānau Connect Group events at level 2

Following consultation with health professionals, we have unfortunately been advised that delivering events at this time is still a huge risk to our families due to the nature of the Delta variant. The health and safety of the children and families we support is always at the centre of our decisions and we need to ensure that we are taking a cautious approach. 

Therefore, we have regrettably had to make the decision to postpone all in-person social activities. This will remain our position until further notice. 

We can appreciate that there are parts of the country without known community cases of Covid-19, so this news will undoubtedly come as a disappointment for our Whānau Connect Groups, especially given we are coming up to school holidays. However, our health professionals have advised that the number of whānau travelling to and from Auckland for treatment unfortunately poses a risk for transmission at in-person events. 

 We encourage you to explore the possibility of virtual activities to ensure that whānau can remain connected during this challenging time. Thank you for understanding that the health and wellbeing of the tamariki and whānau we support is our number one priority. 

September 2021: Covid response update for whānau

We hope you are keeping safe and well. We know this can be a very stressful time for the whānau we support, especially if your child is immunocompromised as a result of treatment.

With Auckland moving to alert level 3 and the rest of the country at alert level two, we wanted to give you an update on how our Family Support team is able to support you and your whānau. Although we cannot undertake any home or face-to-face visits in level three, please rest assured that we continue do everything we can to support your whānau no matter what alert level your region is in.

Level three updates:
• Your Family Support Coordinator is available to support you directly over the phone or video call.
• We are able to attend to families’ requests for grocery items and food drop-offs at both treatment centres.
• Support for bereaved families continues.
• We are able to support you to get your child to the hospital for treatment through petrol vouchers and taxi services.
• Counselling support is still available over the phone or video call.
• We are continuing to register families who have received a confirmed cancer diagnosis since we went into lockdown.

Level two updates:
• Face-to-face visits resume at level two; face masks are required when Family Support Coordinators are visiting families based in CHOC.
• Family Support Coordinators are able to enter CHOC to provide support to families who are on the ward.
• Family visits to our Family Places in Christchurch and Wellington are by appointment only. Families are encouraged to use the Contact Tracing App and our Who’s on Location system. Both family members and Family Support Coordinators must wear a mask throughout the visit.
• We look forward to being able to resume Whānau Connect Group events when we return to level one. Please note that our holiday homes in Taupō and Arrowtown are closed until further notice.

If you require any extra support or need to clarify any support available to you at this time, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with your Family Support Coordinator or our General Manager of Family Support, Marie Purcell on 021 538 557.

September 2021: Covid-19 Vaccinations – National Child Cancer Network

August 2021: Covid-19 response update for whānau

Sending aroha to everyone in Aotearoa today as we move back into Level 4. We know this can be a very stressful time for the whānau we support, especially if your child is immunocompromised as a result of treatment.

Please rest assured that although we cannot currently undertake any home or face-to-face visits, our Family Support team is still able to support you and your whānau. If you require any extra support at this time, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with your Family Support Coordinator or our General Manager of Family Support, Marie Purcell. We are all working remotely and are only a phone call away.