March 19, 2024
Disable Māori missing out
Health services claimants are today grilling the acting Director General of Health and the chief executive of the Ministry of Disabled People over continuing inequities in the health and disability system.
Lady Tureiti Moxon says the Government may have stopped an urgent hearing on her claim against the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora by rushing the legislation through, but other claims before the tribunal allow the issues to be probed.
For example, only 12 percent of disabled Māori receiving home support get it from a Māori provider.
She believes direct commissioning and direct contracting with Māori service providers are needed to counter a system that traps Māori service providers in subcontracting arrangements with mainstream organisations.
“It’s about ensuring Māori providers are receiving the same funding as everybody else and are receiving the same number of referrals as everybody else,” Lady Moxon says.
“It is evident that there are systemic issues faced by a lot of our people who have had to suffer disabilities who have never been looked after in the way that they ought to have been, or even serviced in the way that they ought to have been and should have. This is about upholding their right to elect how to be looked after and cared for by a fair and equitable health system.”