Highfield Lifecare

DHB Audit Details

Further Rest Home Certification and Audits Information.

Highfield Lifecare
South Canterbury District Health Board
Audit Certification period: 36 months (Good)
Certificate renewal date: 3rd April, 2026
Auditor: The DAA Group Limited
Click here to view latest audit findings

Why we have Rest Home Audits

All rest homes and aged residential care facilities are certified and audited to ensure they:

• provide safe, appropriate care for their residents
• meet the standards set out in the Health and Disability Services (Safety) Act 2001.

Types of audit and when they happen

Certification / Surveillance Audits
Certification audits happen every 1–4 years. After the audit, rest homes are certified for a set period of time (the exact length depends on how well the rest home performed at the certification audit). Once this time is up, the rest home must be re-audited and its certification renewed.
An unannounced spot audit (also called a surveillance audit) happens around the middle of a rest home’s certification period. The spot audit ensures progress has been made on outstanding areas identified in the earlier certification audit and that standards haven’t slipped.
In addition to audits, rest homes have to report to their DHB on how they are addressing issues found at audit. These improvements are then verified at the next audit event.
Other types of audit
Provisional audits happen when a provider purchases a certified rest home from another provider.
Partial provisional audits happen when a provider wants to add services to their certificate (eg, a rest home adding hospital-level care), when a new rest home is built, or when a provider adds capacity or reconfigures their services (eg, builds a new wing, upgrades rooms). Before 2014, audits for adding capacity or reconfiguring services were referred to as verification audits.
Ministry inspections
Rest homes may have unannounced inspections by the Ministry under the Health and Disability Services (Safety) Act 2001 in the event of a serious complaint.
DHB issues-based audits
DHBs can conduct issues-based audits under the Aged Related Residential Care Contract. For information on these audits please contact the relevant DHB.