Māori health gains the aim of newly-launched web monitoring

Māori health gains the aim of newly-launched web monitoring tool

A new web-based monitoring tool which seeks to speed up Māori health gains has been launched.

The Māori Health Plan Monitoring Tool was officially launched at Tauranga’s ASB Arena yesterday (Thursday 11 June) before a 150-strong gathering including Māori health providers, experts and leaders, DHB representatives from across the nation, Ministry of Health representatives and media.

The web-based monitoring tool allows comparisons of the performances of all 20 DHBs on 16 Māori health indicators. It also gives information on performance trends, disparities between Māori and non-Māori, as well as links to seminars on ‘best practice’ by the nation’s top performers. The information is updated every 24 hours with the latest Ministry of Health data.

Key note speaker at the launch, Māori Party President and Ngāti Whātua Chair Naida Glavish, commended the DHBs for holding themselves up to public scrutiny for the greater good of Māori health improvement.

Bay of Plenty District Health Board (BOPDHB) Acting CEO Pete Chandler said the monitoring tool graphically demonstrated the disparity between Māori and non-Māori health outcomes in a way which had not been done before. He said the tool had enjoyed universal support from national DHB CEOs and called for that to be translated into a lasting and tangible change for Māori.

The monitoring tool is the brainchild of BOPDHB doctor George Gray said Riki Nia Nia, Chairman of the national Māori General Managers Group Tumu Whakarae. Mr Nia Nia added that the tool was simply an ‘enabler’ though and what really counted was the action taken on the health issues it revealed.

Presenting at the launch, Dr Gray said bringing the monitoring tool to fruition had been a team effort. He said its intent was to make Māori health information more visible and accessible and to increase accountability.

“There are multiple examples of Māori having poorer health system experiences and that flows on to poorer outcomes and poorer life expectancy. To change that requires ongoing performance improvement,” he said.

“This tool will give transparency to performance. DHBs can see whether the initiatives they are using against a certain indicator are working and if not they can try others.”

The development of the Māori Health Plan Monitoring Tool has been sponsored by Tumu Whakarae and funded by the Bay of Plenty, Capital & Coast, Hawke’s Bay and Waitemata DHBs.

The Māori Health Plan Monitoring Tool is available at www.trendly.co.nz

ENDS

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