Not ambitious or empowering enough -
Not ambitious or empowering enough - that's a Māori health advisor's diagnosis of a new government report into revamping the health system.
The report recommends setting up a new independent Māori health authority that would advise the Health Minister on eradicating inequality in the system, identifying problems, developing and testing solutions.
But as it stands, the authority would then work with another new agency - Health NZ and DHBs - when it came to commissioning kaupapa Māori services.
Janice Kuka, managing director of Bay of Plenty Māori health provider Nga Mataapuna Oranga, told Checkpoint the proposed changes "never quite reached the mark."
She wants to see a a standalone Māori authority that commissions on behalf of Māori services, "for them, designed by them."
See video and full article: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018750940/autonomy-the-solution-to-maori-health-janice-kuka
