Client Frequently Asked Questions


Being Prepared

Make sure you have all relevant phone numbers for Emergency Services, your Doctor, your Pharmacy, Power Company, District Council, Family, Friends and Neighbors readily available.

For all emergencies phone 111 immediately.

If your Support Worker is present ask him/her to help you.

When to phone Home Support North

If you need help from Home Support North or need to tell them something e.g. you are going out and wish to cancel your cares or your Support Worker has not turned up etc., please phone 0800 832 383 between office hours 7am and 5pm Monday to Friday.

If your call is after office hours, between 5.01 pm and 9pm weekdays or 7am to 7pm at weekends, and you need help from Home Support North or need to tell them something which cannot wait, phone 0800 11 22 10. This is an after hours number and will not be answered by someone but allows you to leave a short but detailed message. Speak clearly and leave your name and phone number and a short message. This after hours number is monitored between 5pm and 9pm and weekdays and 7am to 7pm at weekends and your message will be attended to as soon as possible.

Any messages left on this answering service after 9 pm will only be heard at 7am the next morning.

  • NO – you cannot change the allocation of hours for any other cares than for which it was allocated. If you need Home Care and you have only been allocated hours for Personal Care or you need Personal Care and you were only allocated hours for Home Care, a re-assessment has to be carried out. Contact your Co-ordinator at Home Support North, who will in turn contact the Needs Assessment centre for a re-assessment. Once a re-assessment has been done, the outcome and decision made by the Needs Assessment Centre will be communicated to Home Support North, and any changes will be implemented.
  • We are moving to an electronic timesheet system called "Remote Worker". This allows us and our Support Workers to track time and location which then feeds into our invoicing and payment database to streamline the processing and also provide up to the minute information for our workers to access their rosters.
  • Contact your Co-ordinator at Home Support North who will arrange for a re-assessment by the Needs Assessment Centre. Once a re-assessment has been done, the outcome and decision made by the Needs Assessment Centre will be communicated to Home Support North, and any changes will be implemented.
  • Phone your pharmacy and re-order if you can OR contact your family or next of kin to help you re-order.
  • If you feel you would benefit from: a wheelchair, crutches, a walker, walking cane/stick, hoist/slings, toilet chair, commode, showerchair, handles on wall (in toilet or bathroom) contact your Co-ordinator at Home Support North and arrange for a re-assessment by the Needs Assessment Centre. You might be eligible for equipment free of charge.
    If you are not eligible for free equipment you can contact Northable Equipment Services, 09 4300988 or 0508 637 200 who can provide all of the above at a charge.
  • Sometimes your regular Support Worker will be away, for example on holiday or sick. When this happens, we will always try to get someone you know to come to you instead; and won’t usually call you about this. However, we will always try to call you if: someone you haven’t met before is coming instead; there is a change to the time or day your Support Worker can come ; or we haven’t been able to find someone else.
  • If you can, get up slowly or if you have a St John Medic Alert or other alarm, push the button. Phone your family or next of kin for help if you can get to a phone.
  • Phone 111 immediately – get out if you can OR phone your family or next of kin, friends or neighbours for help.
    When the situation and area have been made safe and you are insured, you might want to contact your insurance company.
  • Phone your family or next of kin to help with this. If you do not have shopping as part of your support plan and hours are not allocated for this service, Home Support North cannot help you. If you wish for shopping to be included in your support plan or you wish for time/hours to be allocated to include other services such as shopping etc, you can phone your Co-ordinator at Home Support North. Your Co-ordinator will speak to the Needs Assessment Centre who will arrange a review of your support plan.

    There are also various online food/grocery delivery services available.
  • If the power outage has caused an emergency for you, phone 111 immediately. (e.g. you need oxygen which runs off power)
    Contact Top Energy (Kerikeri and far North) 0800 867 363 or Northpower (Whangarei area) 0800 10 40 40 and report power outage.
    If you have a lamp or candle that you can use safely, do so. If you need any other help, please phone your family, next of kin, friends or neighbours for help.
  • Contact your family or next of kin to help you. If you are insured, phone your insurance company. They will arrange for drying and cleaning of the carpets if necessary.
  • Contact the District Council and report cut in water or check your water tank if you have one.