Whānau voices a koha

15 Jul 2019, 15:29

Whānau voices underpin a plan for delivering health services in Wairoa; a plan being put together by the community and health providers across the health sector. 

Hawke’s Bay District Health Board has embarked in a journey to meet with Wairoa whānau to hear their health stories, in particular the things they felt had gone right, the things they felt could be improved and, importantly, what those improvements might look like. 

The health board had previously developed a region-wide clinical services plan, with the input of service users, health professionals, and governance groups. Its focus is on delivering more community-based care, closer to where people live. 

“We are bringing these two pieces of work together to give us a whole-of-health look at the services we and other providers have in Wairoa. We are looking at the entire picture, with whānau and community voices front and centre,” said Hawke’s Bay District Health Board’s Primary Care executive director Chris Ash. 

“It is about supporting and further supplementing the services we already have in place to get the right care, in the right place at the right time. 

“Whānau and community voices are incredibly important. They are a koha to the health system that they have been prepared to share with us, so now it is crucial that we look after and honour that koha by ensuring it is used to inform the heart of the plan for providing health systems in Wairoa.” 

This month, health providers and staff from across the sector met to take another step forward in looking at what Wairoa’s health care model needs to reflect. The workshops focused on the strengths and gaps in the service, and potential short and long-term solutions. 

“It is about taking a clear-eyed view of what services look like now and how they work together, and re-imagining the future with the whānau voices informing the changes,” Mr Ash said. 

“Everyone is working towards creating a model of care for Wairoa that everyone owns.”