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Download AudioThe chief executive of South Island whānau ora commissioning agency Te Pūtahitanga says a report on care for under-fives is a big endorsement of the whānau ora approach.
The report released this week by Associate Heath Minister Ayesha Verrall identified significant gaps in delivery of Well Child Tamariki Ora services to Māori and Pacific pēpi, especially from Plunket, the largest organisation in the sector.
Helen Leahy says while Plunket has admitted it needs to do better, the opportunity is there for the whānau ora network to step up.
"The report comes out and says we need to strengthen and build on the whānau ora approach, we need to fund it appropriately, and we need to ensure that anything that is done for whānau needs to be done with whānau, not by someone coming into the house, and (the report) talks about how the visits were a tick box rather than genuine consultation," she says.
Ms Leahy says the report notes that Māori haven’t been listened to or allowed to drive the decision making.
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