Te Tiratū will utilise this Community Health Plan to focus on a collaborative approach with Te Whatu Ora | Health NZ both nationally and regionally to improve current mainstream and Hauora Māori services to plan for a renewed focus on our priority areas identified by Te Tiratū whānau. The reason that we have organised themes from the data and whānau voice this way is that this aligns generally with how the health system is organised for instance:
- Public and population health services and programmes are overseen, funded, partially delivered and commissioned by the NZ Public Health Service (NZPHS) so it is important we engage closely with NZPHS leaders to advocate for the interests of whānau in our rohe. Their mandate includes cancer screening, health promotion, prevention and wellness, and social determinants of health
- Primary and community care is managed and commissioned (and partly delivered) by the Regional Commissioner for Te Whatu Ora | Health NZ, so it is vital that we have a strong working relationship with this leader, to ensure they and their team understand the issues facing our whānau and reflect this in their budgeting, service planning and procurement practices.
- We also need to have a strong relationship with leadership for hospital and specialist services in the district, to influence the quality of care for Māori, as well as equity of access, utilization and outcome. For instance, a key area for discussion with both the hospital leadership and PHOs will be to undertake a ‘deep dive’ into emergency department presentations and to determine how much of this is impacted by lack of access to primary care.
- Enablers such as workforce development and quality data / information have dedicated leaders and teams at both national and regional levels, and it will be important that we use the information that we have gathered and documented, to influence their planning and resourcing.