Thanks to the generosity of Mercury customers, 96 Starship staff were able to upskill last year, deepening their expertise and helping ensure children receive the very best care possible.

This included advanced training in paediatric nutrition, resulting in new insights into how to improve care for children with complex conditions, and collaboration with the Child Eating Disorder Network at Westmead and Randwick Children’s Hospitals in Sydney.

The team is now working to adapt these learnings to Starship, enhancing the continuum of care for our young patients and their families.


With support from Mercury customers, Starship expanded its National Metabolic Dietitian team this year, to help reduce wait times and increase access to care for families across Aotearoa, over half of whom live outside Auckland.

The National Metabolic Service supports children with Inherited Metabolic Diseases (IMDs), lifelong genetic conditions. Metabolism is the way the body breaks down food into products it uses for energy, growth and repair. If a person has an IMD, their body has problems with breaking down food normally or with using broken down food. Metabolic Dietitians play a crucial role in educating families and supporting them to achieve strict dietary and medication plans to support long-term health.

With support from our customers and another Starship Five Star Partner, the new Panama Road School Whare Hauora will be a vital community resource, significantly improving access to care for children and whānau across the wider Panmure and Mt Wellington areas in Auckland.

In 2024 alone, there were 247 nursing referrals and more than 1,000 appointments, reflecting the high level of need. Previously operating from shared spaces, Starship’s Community School Nurse will now have two dedicated clinical rooms, providing safe, private care and bringing health and social services together in one place.

Beyond the school’s 347 students, the Whare Hauora will support hundreds more local children and over 700 families, many from Pacific and Māori communities, helping strengthen health equity and ensuring more tamariki can thrive.