Co-Chairs’ Report

CO-CHAIR MELANIE TE ARAI TATA

“As a Board, we are more committed than ever to ensure the PHO is empowering community-based providers to deliver services rather than being a service provider ourselves.”

Working in the healthcare sector is always challenging and unpredictable – there are never two days the same. But COVID-19 was a curveball no one saw coming.

While we started 2020 with the expectation that it would be all about the findings of the Health and Disability System Review and what it was going to mean for primary healthcare and PHOs, it soon became apparent we were in a fight for our community’s lives.

Our heartfelt thanks go to our staff who pulled together and were incredibly adaptable and willing to do the mahi where needed. We acknowledge that this year has been disruptive and stressful at times and we appreciate your efforts.

The PHO was extremely professional in its support of General Practice, and our Iwi partners to deliver all-of-health services to the hardest to reach communities. We have certainly learned a lot from those activities and can use that learning to further develop our services.

Our General Practice teams have had a challenging year and have adjusted and adapted brilliantly. Over the space of a single weekend they had to move to virtual consultations, and throughout the different Alert Levels had to work with constantly changing information, while still providing a consistent service.

Our Iwi partners, Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāi Te Rangi, displayed leadership and innovation in mobilising a COVID-19 response. Both Iwi dedicated immediate resource to strengthen resiliency within Māori communities.

When our hospitals had limited access, General Practice and Iwi had to manage people with high health needs who had real medical conditions, and real fears. We are still seeing the fallout from that. Our community has shown great resilience, however, and the low incidence of COVID-19 in the Western Bay of Plenty is testament to our collective efforts to stay home and save lives.

The impact of COVID-19 on mental health in the community has been substantial, and together with our colleagues at the Eastern Bay Primary Health Alliance (EBPHA) and Ngā Mataapuna Oranga (NMO) we are looking at ways to improve the primary mental health services we offer, taking advantage of new mental health funding announced in the 2019 Wellbeing Budget.

The proposed merger with EBPHA did not go ahead this year, with the Bay of Plenty District Health Board deciding the shifts signalled in the Health and Disability System Review towards locality-based planning and networks made a merger less relevant. We will continue to work alongside our PHO and DHB colleagues, as we did so ably during the COVID-19 crisis, to deliver the best possible health outcomes for our communities.

While the review findings did not signal a clear future for PHOs, it did make clear the need for an empowered, resourced, integrated and collaborative primary healthcare sector, which offers great hope and opportunities in the coming years.

As a Board, we are more committed than ever to ensure the PHO is empowering community-based providers to deliver services rather than being a service provider itself.

Our Health Strategy, Te Toi Huarewa, continues to put energy and resources into doing just that because it is crucial to improve the health and wellbeing of our Māori whānau. We accept that in order to do that we have to move away from a traditional Western model of primary healthcare delivery to a more holistic approach driven by individuals themselves rather than health professionals.

Where possible, the best people to implement that are Māori themselves so we will be working to empower whānau to manage their own health and design their own health outcomes. The uniqueness of Iwi and its infrastructure continues to be a fundamental element in reducing health inequity for Māori. Iwi partners have consolidated Te Toi Huarewa at a governance level, ensuring measurable outcomes, genuine engagement and culturally competent representation.

We continue to have positive interactions with the DHB, and look forward to working with the new CEO, Pete Chandler, as well as the new Board chair following the resignation of Sir Michael Cullen earlier this year.

We also welcome the recent appointments of Marama Tauranga, Manakura – Executive Director Toi Ora, and Joanne Baird, Toitaki ki Tauranga – Tauranga Site Leader to the DHB’s Māori Health Gains and Development team. This will strengthen the region’s commitment to improving Māori equity and outcomes.

While we still have to be vigilant about COVID-19 because we’re not out of the woods yet, we certainly aren’t standing still when it comes to progressing our plans for improving the health and wellbeing of our community in general. New programmes continue to be introduced, relationships continue to be developed and enhanced, and quality improvement is always at the forefront.

None of this is possible, of course, without the hard work and dedication of our staff, our Board, our General Practice teams and our Iwi partners. Together, we will clear the undergrowth so that the new shoots of the flax will grow. Tungia te ururua, kia tupu whakaritorito te tupu o te harakeke.

BOARD CO-CHAIRS MELANIE TE ARAI TATA (NGĀTI RANGINUI) DR LUKE BRADFORD CO-CHAIR DR LUKE BRADFORD