Co-Chairs’ Report The healthcare sector will always be a dynamic environment to work in. At the coalface, our workforce responds to complex and changing health needs every day. Throw in the demands of COVID-19, the announcement of a new national framework for the delivery of health services and the discontinuation of a planned PHO merger, it is fair to say we have all been duly tested. The board wishes to recognise the contribution of Dr Luke Bradford for his service to the PHO over four and a half years, including four years as co-chair. We warmly congratulate him on his appointment this year as Chief Medical Officer with the Bay of Plenty District Health Board. Board director Dr Todd Hulbert took on the co-chair position vacated by Luke, representing Providers Inc. We also welcomed Dr Daniel McIntosh as a new board director. As a board, top of mind has been the welfare of our CO - C H A I R M E L A N I E T E A R A I TATA
kaimahi who must keep ‘doing the doing’ in an environment where it feels like the goalposts keep shifting. A massive thanks must go to our CEO, the PHO leadership team and staff, who have always responded with professionalism and proven adaptable during these challenging times. The PHO has provided ongoing support to General Practice, and our Iwi partners, Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāi Te Rangi, during the response to COVID-19, which has certainly increased workloads across the provider network.
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Fortunately, with more than 18 months’ experience of a global pandemic, we have been able to draw from our kete of knowledge to quickly deliver services when they were needed most, targeting the hardest to reach communities. It was
“We have been delighted to see General Practices undertake activities to grow their cultural intelligence and use data in new ways to identify health disparities within their enrolled populations.”
rewarding mahi for everyone involved and goes to show what can be achieved in partnership and when we take a whānaucentred approach to primary healthcare. We also want to acknowledge the way General Practices have cared for and protected our population this year. COVID-19 has forced them to change the way they operate. New models of care and rapidly developing technology have had to be embraced. The PHO has supported Practices to make these changes, in both the move to virtual consultations and telehealth, as well as support Practice teams to better understand and overcome health inequity in our population. We have been delighted to see General Practices undertake activities to grow their cultural intelligence and use data in new ways to identify health inequities within their enrolled populations. This information has been used to guide services, strengthen connections to whānau and their communities, and importantly, measure quality improvements. This work is an example of our Health Strategy, Te Toi Huarewa, in action, which was created with the goal to improve health outcomes for Māori and reduce the equity gap.
