Our Role
Our Vision, Purpose & Values
The purpose of the National Child Cancer Network (NCCN) is to provide national oversight and clinical leadership for child cancer services. We champion best practices in treatment and care with a focus on equitable patient outcomes and experience for all children with cancer. We foster collaboration among stakeholders and unite efforts to drive service development and continual quality improvement.
Our vision is that every child with cancer receives equitable access to consistent, safe, high-quality, child-and- whanau-centred care regardless of who they are or where they live.
Our values:
- Equity-led: We strive for equity for all children with cancer.
- Child-and whānau-centred: We put children and whānau at the heart of all our work.
- Knowledge-driven: We are guided by evidence and data.
- Outcomes-focused: We are focused on delivering better outcomes and experience for all children with cancer.
- Collaborative: We bring people together to connect care and facilitate best practice.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi & achieving equity
Whakamaua: Māori Health Action Plan sets out the health system intentions for the implementation of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, set out in terms of mana:
- Mana whakahaere effective and appropriate stewardship or kaitiakitanga over the health and disability system. This goes beyond the management of assets or resources.
- Mana motuhake: Enabling the right for Māori to be Māori (Māori self-determination); to exercise their authority over their lives, and to live on Māori terms and according to Māori philosophies, values and practices including tikanga Māori.
- Mana tangata: Achieving equity in health and disability outcomes for Māori across the life course and contributing to Māori wellness.
- Mana Māori: Enabling Ritenga Māori (Māori customary rituals) which are framed by te ao Māori (the Māori world), enacted through tikanga Māori (Māori philosophy & customary practices) and encapsulated within mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge)
The National Child Cancer Network recognises the central importance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and seeks to uphold its obligations, including through working in partnership with Māori with a clear focus on achieving equity for Māori in terms of child cancer outcomes.
Our History
The National Child Cancer Network was established in late 2011, with a primary function to provide clinical leadership and oversight for the delivery of child cancer services in New Zealand, as well as to implement the National Plan for Child Cancer services that would drive service improvements across the country. The NCCN is funded by Te Aho o Te Kahu (Cancer Control Agency) and is an integral part of the New Zealand Cancer Action Plan 2019-2029.
The Network has its origins in the Paediatric Oncology Steering Group (POSG), which was established in 1999. The Paediatric Oncology Steering Group operated for over 10 years and was responsible for some key initiatives that are embedded in the child cancer services that are in place today – the Late Effects Assessment Programme (LEAP), the New Zealand Child Cancer Registry (NZCCR), and Clinical Research Assistants to support Clinical Trials and National Clinical Guidelines.
In 2010, the National Plan for Child Cancer Services in New Zealand was developed by the then Ministry of Health and the National Health Board, in conjunction with District Health Boards (DHBs) and the Paediatric Oncology Steering Group. This plan provided a national framework for the delivery of child cancer services and recommended the establishment of a national clinical network for child cancer services in New Zealand.
Governance
Governance for the National Child Cancer Network is provided through a Reference Group which includes participation by Te Aho o Te Kahu (funder of the Network). In addition to health professionals, membership includes other appropriate key sector management and non-government child cancer organisation representation.
The Reference Group meets twice a year.
Group Membership:
- National Child Cancer Network Clinical Leader
- National Child Cancer Network Reference Group Chair
- National Child Cancer Network Programme Manager
- National Child Cancer Network Research Lead / NZCCR Database Manager
- Te Aho o Te Kahu representatives (2)
- Clinical Directors from the Paediatric Oncology Specialist Centres – SBCC & CHOC (2)
- Paediatric Oncology Specialist Centre Nurse Unit Manager/Charge Nurse (2)
- Paediatrician representation from Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora Shared Care Centres (3)
- Paediatric Oncology Specialist Centre Clinical Nurse Specialist – Shared Care Coordinator (2)
- Nurse representation from Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora Shared Care Centres (1)
- Paediatric Cancer Surgical Specialist (1)
- Paediatric Cancer Radiation Oncology Specialist (1)
- Child Cancer Foundation CEO (1)
- CanTeen CEO (1)
- Leukaemia and Blood Cancer NZ CEO (1)
- AYA Cancer Network Aotearoa Clinical Leader (1)
- Paediatric Palliative Care representative (1)
Strategic Alignment
The work of the National Child Cancer Network aligns with the following strategies and plans:
- Te Pae Tata | Interim New Zealand Health Plan, which sets out the first two years of health system transformation to improve the health and wellbeing of all New Zealanders.
- Whakamaua: Māori Health Action Plan 2020-2025 which is the implementation plan for He Korowai Oranga, New Zealand’s Māori Health Strategy. This aims to achieve better health outcomes for Māori by setting the government’s direction for Māori health advancement over the next five years.
- He Korowai Oranga: Māori Health Strategy, which sets the overarching framework to guide the government and health and disability sector to achieve the best health outcomes for Māori.
- Ola Manuia: Pacific Health and Wellbeing Action Plan 2020-2025 which provides direction to improve Pacific health and wellbeing, setting out priority outcomes and accompanying actions.
- The New Zealand Disability Strategy 2016-2026, which sets out the vision for New Zealand to be a non-disabling society and guides the work of government agencies on disability issues.
- National Plan for Child Cancer Services, which aims to strengthen child cancer services by achieving national agreement on a service delivery model that is clinically safe, effective, and sustainable.
- New Zealand Cancer Action Plan 2019-2029, which outlines a pathway to improve cancer outcomes for all New Zealanders and is guided by four overarching principles: equity-led, knowledge-driven, outcomes-focused, and person and whānau-centred.
- AYA Cancer Action Plan 2020-2025, which outlines specific national priorities with complementary actions to attain success and achieve optimal and equitable cancer care delivery for all young people in Aotearoa.
Our logo/toh
Our logo/tohu of a Kākahu Huruhuru (Feather Cloak) represents/symbolises:
- The Kākahu Huruhuru (Feather Cloak) is a traditional Māori feather cloak, often worn by Ariki (Chiefs) and Rangatira (Leaders). It is a prestigious garment indicating high status and leadership within a community. For NCCN, it symbolises the Network’s leadership, influence, and oversight within the hauora space. It illustrates the National Child Cancer Network’s ability to bring people together under its cloak, embodying NCCN’s role as a kaitiaki, a guardian, and protector. The kahu huruhuru represents guidance, guardianship, and influence. It signifies being a protector and uniting people to work collaboratively. This mirrors NCCN’s role in uniting organisations and people across the child cancer continuum.
- Arrows/Feathers
- Unity and Collective Action: The different coloured arrows, uniform and moving in the same direction, symbolize kotahitanga (oneness). Each arrow also represents two groups supporting each other.
- Support and Care: The arrows represent the shared care relationship between the specialist centre and shared care centre, symbolising mutual support.
- Diversity and Inclusivity: The variously coloured arrows represent the feathers of the kahu huruhuru, symbolising people of different cultures. This reflects the National Child Cancer Network’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity, welcoming all ethnicities and backgrounds.
- Equitable Care: The feathers represent the diverse population the National Child Cancer Network serves, highlighting the commitment to equitable care for all children. This ensures that cancer care and support services are patient and whānau-centred, reflecting diverse needs and values.
- Collaboration and Progress: All arrows pointed in the same direction signify bringing health professionals and stakeholders together to work collaboratively, achieve shared objectives, and drive service development in the child cancer sector.
