Waipareira chief executive John Tamihere says Whānau Ora collectives are demanding the Heath Ministry allow funding for Covid tests to be used not only for nasal swabs but for saliva testing.
Waipareira started using the saliva tests this week.
Mr Tamihere says they have been cleared for use at a clinical level, but he believes bureaucrats are holding up the funding.
He says as well as speeding up testing the public, the saliva tests are a more efficient way of managing safety for a large public-facing workforce.
"These tests are non-invasive and they turn around within 16 hours so this is a good employer issue. In the old days the union movement would be supporting this, but they are silenced at the moment, so once again us Māori across the country will lift. This is why we need out own Māori heath commissioning agency," Mr Tamihere says.
This week Waipareira had to deal with floods which put key staff out of action, the ongoing plague with up to 2700 vaccines and 700 tests a day administered, Mr Tamihere says he’s just waiting for the locusts.
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