The Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Bill passed its third reading at Parliament this week, setting the stage for the major reform of our health system to become law on 1 July.
There has been much debate about the re-nationalising of our health system and the formation of two new entities: Health New Zealand and the new Māori Health Authority.
Associate Health Minister (Māori) Peeni Henare said this week that Māori voices and hauora expertise will be reflected at every level of our new health system, “improving outcomes for Māori and non-Māori across Aotearoa”.
But what does all this mean for us here on the ground in Hawke’s Bay?
While Nathan Harrington, who heads up Te Kupenga Hauora – Ahuriri points to the positive way Māori Health providers responded to Covid as affirmation the reforms are going in the right direction, others cautiously wait to see the detail.
“Is this just shifting chairs on the Titanic? asks Shane Gorst, General Manager of Tōtara Health.
GP David Rodgers, Hawke’s Bay representative on the New Zealand Royal College of General Practitioners, says right now he is more concerned about the lack of GPs in Hawke’s Bay and the 1,000s of us who don’t have a doctor.
Read all this and much more analysis of the reforms and what they mean for Hawke’s Bay in the upcoming July/August issue of BayBuzz.
Health reform bill enacted
