Frequently Asked Questions

The Waitematā DHB Health Excellence Awards acknowledge projects, research, or people that make an outstanding difference to the health outcomes and experience of our patients, staff and wider community. By celebrating examples of excellence throughout our district we hope to also inspire others.

• Anyone who works within Waitematā DHB or provides health services within the Waitematā district

• Applications are welcome from clinical or non-clinical positions

• Individuals or teams are invited to apply!

• The project/activities must be recently completed, or still in progress, and must not have been submitted to the previous year’s HEA.

Absolutely you can! Apply for as many as you see fit if you have multiple projects you wish to nominate – BUT, please remember that each project/initiative can only be entered into one award category. You cannot enter one project across multiple categories.

• Individuals or teams are eligible to enter and may be nominated by a colleague or themselves

• If you wish to nominate a project/initiative/person, you will be required to gain consent from the individual/team lead

• Judges will independently review and score applications against the selection criteria which are available on the HEA website (click here)

• A maximum of three finalists in each category will be selected, along with the overall winner for each category

• The judges’ decision will be final

• Our online Application Pack contains the specific information required to enter the HEA.

Your application should clearly detail how excellence in outcomes and/or experience for patients, staff or the community has been achieved – according to the submission criteria outlined for each category (click here to see the criteria). Be specific about what you have done/achieved and provide the evidence to support your entry.

The online Application Pack outlines the standard questions to address in your entry (these questions are the same across all award categories).

Don’t forget that we also award points for creativity and presentation/style too!

There is no need to upload any supporting documents (e.g. Business cases, White Papers, journal articles etc.), but we do encourage you to include relevant images / infographics, PowerPoint slides, or a short video (maximum 30 seconds long; file size 50mb) to enhance the creativity of your application!

You will receive an email to confirm that your entry has been submitted. If you do not receive this please contact us (HEA@waitematadhb.govt.nz). You will then be informed after the judging period closes, if you have been selected as one of our awesome finalists!

We have invited judges to participate in the HEA based on their experience and expertise in particular areas, which align well to each category. There will be two expert judges to assess your application – see the Judges section on the website for more details.

All applications will be assessed against the same judging criteria which are outlined on the website and in the Application Pack. The judging criteria closely align with our organisational values and Board priorities.

Judging will take place in May, with the finalist announced shortly after.

We can provide some feedback from the judges on request - please contact the HEA Team (HEA@waitematadhb.govt.nz) directly to request this.

The key dates for HEA in 2021 are as follows:

The finalists will be announced at the end of May 2021.

The winners will be announced during the awards ceremony (an evening gala event) at the Maritime Room, Auckland CBD! If the winner is not able to attend the event itself, a chosen representative will accept the award on that person’s behalf.

Click here to see the 2019 HEA winners.

• All finalists will receive an HEA certificate

• All winners will receive an HEA certificate and an HEA trophy

• All winners and finalists will be invited to a gala evening event to celebrate their amazing achievements and accept their certificate/trophy on the night.

There are also the added benefits of receiving wider recognition for your achievement, being able to network and connect with others at the awards ceremony, and importantly - to celebrate your achievements in health excellence!

Yes, we’d love to hear from you! Please contact the HEA team on HEA@waitematadhb.govt.nz to find out more.

Winners will be published online and widely promoted (e.g HEA website, Waitematā Weekly, Staffnet, Waitematā DHB social media platforms etc.). Photographs of finalists and winners will also be taken during the awards event – but permission will be sought from individuals prior to the event.

Please email the HEA team at HEA@waitematadhb.govt.nz and someone will respond back to your enquiry.