Asian and ethnic health service
This service was created to help Health New Zealand – Waitematā provide accessible, culturally appropriate, and effective care for the growing Asian migrant and refugee communities.
Contact us
Asian Health Line (iCare Call centre)
Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm (excluding public holidays)
North Shore office
Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5pm (excluding public holidays)
Phone: (09) 486 8314
Extension: 2314 (internal)
Fax: (09) 486 8347
Extension 2347 (internal)
Waitakere office
Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5pm (excluding public holidays)
Phone: (09) 837 8831
Extension: 6831 (internal)
Fax: (09) 837 8840
Extension: 6840 (internal)
Where to find us
North Shore office
Ground floor
3 Mary Poynton Crescent
Takapuna 0622
North Shore
Waitematā office
Entrance G, Lower Ground Floor
Waitematā Hospital
55-75 Lincoln Road
Henderson 0610
Services we provide
Asian and Ethnic Health Services aim to make healthcare more accessible, welcoming, and effective for people from diverse cultural and language backgrounds.
Asian and Ethnic Patient Support Service is located at the North Shore and Waitematā Hospital sites and provides the following services:
Hospital and Community Support
- Inpatient Support
- Post Discharge from Hospital Support for Patients
- iCare Health Information Line (e.g. GP Support and COVID 19 support)
- Cultural Advice for Health Professionals
- Asian Breastscreen Support
Health Promotion and Prevention
- Health seminars for the Asian community (e.g. Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Indian health seminars)
- Health promotion activities and events
Brochure - Asian Patient Support ServicePDF1 MB
The Asian Mental Health Service supports Chinese, Korean, Indian, Pakistani, Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Japanese clients with culturally responsive mental health care.
What we offer:
- Socio-cultural assessment for the Asian clients
- Counselling and psycho-education for the service users and their families
- Support with communication between the service users and their mental health clinicians
- Help navigating the New Zealand health system and accessing communication resources or services
- Guidance to help the service users to identify their strengths and achieve their personal goals
- Collaboration with the mental health professionals and other service providers
- Group programmes including
- Parenting (the Incredible Years (parenting),
- Asian Wellbeing Group, Sensory Modulation,
- Wellness Recovery Action Group
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Specialist Services:
- Asian Clinical Psychological Service
- Clinical Cultural Consultation service for the Asian clients by a bi-lingual (cross-cultural) psychiatrist
Brochure - Asian Mental Health ServicePDF659 KB
Asian Mental Health Serviceexternal link
The Asian Health Line is a free service that helps Asian community access information and support in Aotearoa New Zealand. We can help with:
- Information about the New Zealand health and disability system
- Help with booking GP appointments
- Hospital appointment enquiries
- Breast screening support
- COVID-19 information support
Our team includes bilingual staff and volunteers who speak:
- English
- Mandarin
- Cantonese
- Hindi
- Tamil
- Urdu
- Korean
We can also arrange support in over 90 languages to assist people from different ethnic backgrounds.
Freephone: 0800 88 88 30
Phone: 09 442 3232
Asian Health Services support Waitematā and Auckland to promote free breast screening Chinese and Korean women who speak little or no English. You may qualify if you:
- Are aged 45 to 69 years
- Live in the Waitematā and Auckland region
- Are a New Zealand citizen, permanent resident or hold a work permit valid for at least a 2 years
- Have not had a mammogram in the last 12 months
What we offer
- A free mammogram is available every 2 years
- Help with enrolment and bookings (individual and group)
- Interpreter support to assist with communication.
Contact us
Available Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5:00pm (excluding public holidays)
General enquiries:
- English and Chinese: 09 486 8314
- English and Korean: 09 488 4663
WATIS Interpreting Service provides interpreting services for Waitematā hospital and community based services.
WATIS provides a 24 hour, 7 days a week service and contracts more than 200 interpreters to cover 142 languages and dialects (including NZ Sign Language, Asian, Pacific, European, Middle Eastern and African languages).
Brochure - WATIS Interpreting ServicePDF866 KB
WATIS Interpreting Service support primary healthcare within the Waitemata region.
Services include:
- Telephone interpreting
- Onsite (face to face) interpreting
- Appointment confirmation
- Telephone assignment
Brochure - Primary Health Interpreting ServicePDF213 KB
Referral information
WATIS Interpreting Service
WATIS is available only to patients within Waitematā hospital and primary healthcare service providers.
If you are a patient or client, please speak to your Charge Nurse or contact your primary healthcare provider. They will arrange an interpreter for you.
Asian Patient Support Service
If you think you or someone you know could benefit from extra support during a hospital stay, please let your nurse or clinician know.
They can request the Asian Patient Support Service to join your care team and provide culturally appropriate support.
Asian Mental Health Services
If you think you or someone you know may benefit from support, the first step is to visit your GP.
Your GP can refer you to your local specialist mental health service.
Once you're connected with a specialist clinician (such as a Key Worker), they may invite the Asian Mental Health Service to join your care team to provide culturally appropriate support.