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Download AudioNurses Organisation kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says getting the governance right will be critical to the success of the heath reforms.
Ms Nuku says many whānau gave evidence to the Waitangi Tribunal Wai 2572 health services inquiry that change needed to happen because the previous system wasn’t working for them.
She says nurses and patients may not see change in the short to medium term because of issues like under staffing which are baked into the system.
But there is a ray of hope with the Māori Health Authority and the iwi-Māori partnership groups, which are supposed to work with Health New Zealand to identify local priorities and monitor social inequity and health outcomes.
“These health reforms were on the back of Minister (Andrew) Little’s ‘we must stop the postcode healthcare,’ so we’ve got to see better engagement with community to ensure heir priorities inform what is delivered within their own regions,” she says.
Kerri Nuku says the Nurses Organisation is still waiting for clarity on executive government systems and what engagement with Māori and communities will look like, and it’s also asking for nurses to be part of the governance table.
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