Listen Now: 
Ngati Whatua Orakei's decision to buy health care for its beneficiaries is an acknowledgement the existing model of meeting Maori health gaps is struggling.
Spokesperson Ngarimu Blair says while the post-settlement iwi does not want to let the crown off the hook for provision of services that all New Zealanders has a right to expect, there are circumstances where it needs to step in.
He says health and wellbeing has been a constant topic for the hapu, and it has embraced the hauora revolution of recent decades.
"We set up health clinics and worked with the Auckland District Health Board and we get our funding, we set up our hauora, and that was a shift in the dial. However, those services are generally underfunded. They don't attract the best doctors and staff. They don't certainly attract even our own doctors we put through medical school so something is not right in those hauora in our view," Mr Blair says.
The Ngati Whatua hauora was also limited by having clinics only in Mission Bay and Glen Innes, while its people are spread throughout New Zealand and across the Tasman.
!["p_facebook"]("/site/uma/images/story_img/facebook.jpg")
& !["p_twitter"]("/site/uma/images/story_img/twitter.jpg")
Copyright © 2018, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
RELATED NEWS
