129.037 Mahitahi Hauora Annual Report 2023-24 v8 - Low Res Spreads - Flipbook - Page 9
2023/2024 - Mahitahi Hauora Annual Report
He Aumihi Nā Te
Tumu Whakarae
Message from our CEO
Over the next few
years, we hope to see
important changes
being made in funding
for primary care and
improvements in whānau
health outcomes.
We are now in the second year of
the new health system structure
brought about by the Pae Ora
(Healthy Futures) legislation and
we are seeing more stability across
the sector. The organisational
structure changes within Health
New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora led
to new opportunities for Te Tai
Tokerau. We have more visibility
of the initiatives and programmes
in Auckland and a forum through
which to demonstrate the need for
a fair and equitable proportion of
resources.
Iwi Māori Partnership Boards
(IMPBs) have been given greater
authority to lead and shape the
planning and delivery of healthcare
in our communities. I look forward
to continuing our already close
working relationship with Te Kahu
o Taonui on new initiatives that
respond to the needs and wants of
whānau in Tai Tokerau.
As passionate advocates for
equitable health outcomes for
whānau in Tai Tokerau, we have
been working hard to reduce the
equity gap in health outcomes for
Māori. Although there have been
some positive movements across
some key clinical indicators in The
Equity for Whānau Agreement,
we have not yet seen the results
we hope for; equity difference
between Māori and non-Māori
persists. As we move into the new
昀椀nancial year, we will be reviewing
The Equity for Whānau Agreement
and its goals to be even more
ambitious.
The annual capitation uplift of 4%
is yet another in a line of missed
opportunities to address the
chronic underfunding of primary
care. Most of Mahitahi Hauora’s
partner practices are Very LowCost Access (VCLA) practices and
will receive an uplift of 5.88%,
however for the remaining few,
the prospect of raising patient
fees to reach the same increase is
disheartening. The future impact of
this underfunding on rural practices
that already face signi昀椀cant barriers
in attracting and retaining clinical
workforce is particularly worrying.
However, we will continue to
advocate for our partner practices
and remain hopeful that future
capitation increases will become
available in the three-year budget.
Earlier in the year we received visits
from Health New Zealand Chair,
Dame Karen Poutasi and Regional
Way昀椀nder, Commissioning, Danny
Wu.
These visits allowed us to
champion the mahi we are
doing through our immunisation
programme, mental health
services, the primary options acute
demand service, our extensive
long-term conditions programme,
caring for the unenrolled, and
supporting general practice
through the Clinical Hub. They
also provided an opportunity for
us to demonstrate how increased
funding would be used to bene昀椀t
whānau. Some of our General
Practitioners gave a Tai Tokerau
perspective on the issues being
felt across the motu, such as
workforce shortages, pay disparity,
inequitable funding, and afterhours care.
I wish to thank our member
general practices for their
hard work and perseverance
throughout the challenges we are
experiencing, and the sincerity
of their determination to make a
difference to their patients.
I would also like to thank the
Mahitahi Hauora staff and teams for
the dedication, effort and care they
show every day in the important
mahi we do, championing the
needs of our communities and
working hard to support our
practices.
Finally, I thank the Mahitahi Board
for their leadership, courage, and
support of our goals, priorities, and
aspirations.
Ngā mihi,
Jensen Webber
Chief Executive Of昀椀cer
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