Te Tara o Te Whai, a collective of Iwi, Health and Community providers, who are responding to and preparing for the health reforms taking place nationally, have launched their new web portal www.tetaraotewhai.nz, designed to keep communities, whānau, hapū and Iwi informed on what these changes mean at a local level.

Te Tara o Te Whai is a locality that is a place and people based approach to improving the health of populations, as well as a mechanism for organising health and social services to meet the needs identified by whānau, community, and Iwi-Māori Partnership Boards. One of the first stages of work is to co-create a Localities plan to guide partners and the community in the journey ahead.

Partnership members include Te Korowai Hauora o Hauraki, Hauraki Māori Trust Board, Hauraki PHO, National Hauora Coalition, Pinnacle Incorporated, Te Whatu Ora and Te Aka Whai Ora. The partnership has come together under a Locality Alliance Charter, designed as a values-based approach to enable organisations and communities to work side by side to co-create a new approach to health service delivery across the Hauraki.

Taima Campbell – Manukura Hauora – CEO of Hauraki PHO, one of the key drivers behind the standing up of the new Locality says “wouldn't be making big changes to our health care system if everyone in our community were getting the same health outcomes, part of the reason for establishing localities is so that everyone in Hauraki has equitable health care outcome.”

Taima also gives a mihi “to our partners who have got us this far and welcomes new partner organisations who wish to join us in the future”. Taima looks forward to: “working with other groups, agencies and local government to deliver the joint aspirations of our community.“

To date, Te Tara o Te Whai has held a range of community engagement hui and conducted extensive research. As a result, to help shape the draft Localities plan eight key whānau priorities have been identified which include:

Ahuru Mowai – Housing First

Urgent Care

Preventative Care

Acknowledgement it “takes a village” to get the work done

Rangatahi

Whānau experience

Data/Digital and

Rural Workforce Development

Te Tara o Te Whai invites interested family/whānau and community groups to attend the upcoming hui on March 9, 11:30 am – 1 pm at the St. John Hall,Paeroa. There is also an opportunity for local groups to access resource support to host their own hui to ensure as many local voices are included in the co-creation of the final Localities plan.

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