Hui Aligns Healthcare for Māori Across Northern DHBs

Karere Pāpāho/Media Release
Friday 21 December 2018
Historic Hui Aligns Healthcare for Māori Across Northern DHBS

Iwi from across the upper North Island have come together in an historic health-sector first, paving the way for a unified approach to the delivery of healthcare to Māori.

Representatives from nine northern tribes joined spokespeople from Tainui Health in a hui (meeting) called by Waitematā DHB CEO Dr Dale Bramley at North Shore Hospital yesterday.

The hui was the first step towards the Waitematā and Auckland DHB’s collaborating with Northland DHB to integrate governance, leadership and planning arrangements for Māori health.

Counties Manukau DHB also plans to work closely with Waikato DHB and all five will liaise on common goals, aspirations and the sharing of information and strategies to improve Māori health outcomes.

Dr Dale Bramley, who is of Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine and Te Whānau-ā-Apanui descent, says the combined union will work to reduce the health inequities experienced by Māori within sector.

“Yesterday’s agreement to align our efforts was, indeed, historic,” he says. “It has created a shared focus to improve health outcomes for Māori and I now look forward to working with iwi and making that a tangible reality for the people that we are here to serve.”

Waitematā DHB Chief Advisor Tikanga, Dame Rangimarie Naida Glavish, says co-governance within the DHBs will deliver a strategic and holistic approach to health care that puts Māori intelligence and sense-of-whānau at the very centre of patient experience.

“It will have a strong focus on tikanga, which, loosely translated from Māori, means ‘the right way of doing things,’” she says. “This is better known as a whānau–ora approach and it is 100 per cent designed to deliver better outcomes for Māori, ensuring key players across all three DHBs are united in their approach and working to the Articles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi).”

Ngāpuhi Rūnanga chairman Sonny Tau was mandated by Te Kahu o Taonui (nine iwi) to speak on behalf of the northern tribes.

He says the alignment of Māori health care across the Auckland, Waitematā and Northland DHBs will better serve iwi from Tamaki in the south to Te Rerenga Wairua (Spirits Bay) in the Far North.

“Many of our people have experienced a sense of disengagement with the health system and that has contributed to some of the poor health outcomes that we see today,” he says. “This renewed sense of coherence will help remove some of the barriers that currently stop Māori from accessing healthcare when they first need it. It will provide a consistency of care that is more familiar and culturally in-tune to the people it is designed for.”

A second hui will be discussed in February to discuss next steps.

ENDS

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