The arrival of healthcare technicians (HCTs) in clinics is transforming Tāmaki Health’s ability to cope with increasing patient volumes and provide more potentially life-saving health screening.
Over a month HCTs see 6,000 to 7,000 patients and provide more than 11,000 interventions, freeing up nurses to provide nurse-led clinics.
Total Healthcare’s seed funding from mid-2024 to 2026 made the introduction of this role possible because it enabled Tāmaki Health, our healthcare provider, to trial this innovative move. The role is a success story and here to stay – there are about 24 HCTs with recruitment ongoing by Tāmaki Health.
Tāmaki Health’s chief nursing officer Philippa Jones proposed the new role to free up nurses to undertake more nurse-led patient consultations. Philippa says the PHO funding was “like gold” as many healthcare providers wouldn’t be able to afford the cost and staff time to introduce it.
HCTs undertake a wide variety of tasks
They are trained in-house and clinical oversight is provided to undertake tasks, such as vital signs, ECG, urinalysis, pregnancy tests etc, and housekeeping tasks like recalls and restocking supplies. HCTs also receive vaccinating health workers’ training through the Immunisation Advisory Centre to support vaccinations for HPV, influenza, MMR and Boostrix.
Philippa says the increasing volume of nurse-led consults alone proves the trial was successful. “Month on month they are going up, and I believe they will continue to climb!” In September 2024 just under 10 percent of consults were nurse-led and by October 2025 that grew to nearly 16 percent – very close to a 60 percent increase.
“We are very grateful Total Healthcare bought into this vision. HCTs were the enabler for more nurse-led clinics but they have provided so much more! There are so many benefits we never envisaged that were the cherry on top; increased preventive healthcare, boosting our workforce and their ability to speak other languages.”
Surprising screening success
The most surprising impact from the introduction of HCTs for Philippa was the big boost to population health with increased opportunistic screening by HCTs. For example, cervical screening rates, that took a big hit after COVID, have climbed by 36 percent when comparing July 2024 figures to October 2025 and continue to increase.
Future benefits include a more culturally diverse workforce attracted by the offer of in-house training. “The majority of HCTs are Pasifika or Māori and many are now wanting to go into healthcare as a career, that’s been a really great thing about this new role,” Philippa says.
The HCT roles give people a taste of life on the healthcare frontline and spark interest in working for Tāmaki Health. “If they’ve worked with us as HCTs, they are a known quantity. We can say to people wanting to train as a nurse we will have a job for you because we know you are great.”
The HCT roles also free up nursing staff to develop their careers. By the end of 2026 Tāmaki Health expects to have close to 100 nurse prescribers.
Pictured above are: Jaide Hetutu, left, and Bella Jones who were among the first HCTs at Tāmaki Health. Jaide plans to study as a doctor from 2027 and Bella starts her nursing training in 2026.
