Te Moana a Toi Iwi Māori Partnership Board (IMPB) met with Health NZ Te Whatu Ora late on Monday following public meetings held last Thursday and Friday in Whakātane, Kawerau and Ōpōtiki by the national health service.

The hui provided a platform for constructive collaboration to tackle urgent challenges in hauora service delivery adversely impacting whānau Māori in the Eastern Bay.

Deputy chief executive Catherine Cronin and senior officials met with IMPB co-chair Hone Te Rire and general manager Vincent Copeland to discuss concerns raised by the community, including clinicians at Whakatāne Hospital.

The IMPB, which represents 16 iwi from the rohe, including Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Rangitihi, Te Whānau-a-Apanui and Ngāti Tūwharetoa ki Kawerau, emphasised the need for immediate, practical solutions alongside a long-term governance framework to ensure sustainable improvements.

“A lot of our communities are stretched, yearning for help, a union for support, and really want some concrete stuff on the ground. Our IMPB is here to help out as best as we can,” said Hone Te Rire

Te Whatu Ora expressed a commitment to working with iwi, hapū, whānau, the IMPB, and local providers to resolve the challenges.

Ms Cronin acknowledged that empowering the local hospital team would be a key immediate first step, so local healthcare staff are back in control of their destiny with solutions including:

• Enabling Whakatāne Hospital to manage its own rosters.
• Appointing an interim general manager who must live in Whakatāne.
• Establishing an interim management team.

Discussions canvassed the impact of maternity and specialist service cuts, healthcare access, and workforce management challenges.

The IMPB said two-thirds of Māori births in this region are high-risk because of conditions such as hypertension, heart damage from rheumatic fever and predisposition to haemorrhage as a result of multiple prior births.

The downgrade of Whakatāne Hospital’s maternity services presented logistical challenges for whānau, it said.

Those in remote coastal areas, such as Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, now face a 400km journey to access healthcare. The distance and cost pose major barriers, making essential medical care increasingly out of reach.

In 2022, 1,264 Māori babies were born in the Bay of Plenty, accounting for 39.7 percent of all births in the region. However, only 64.5 percent of Māori mothers were enrolled with a Lead Maternity Carer in their first trimester, before 14 weeks of pregnancy. More than three in 10 Māori women miss out on this crucial intervention.

Many whānau Māori in the Bay of Plenty live in high-deprivation conditions, delay seeking medical care due to cost, are three times more likely than non-Māori to lack access to a car, twice as likely to live in cold, damp homes, and have a life expectancy 8.1 years shorter than the general population.

“Critical decisions need to be made quickly, but we believe that by working supportively together, we can find practical solutions that improve healthcare for whānau Māori and community at large,” said Mr Copeland.

Hapū māmā who are at greatest risk and most likely to be transported to Tauranga Hospital to give birth are those who are not currently registered with a Lead Maternity Carer.

Te Moana a Toi IMPB urges all expectant māmās to register by contacting their local midwife, GP, or seek support from a Māori health provider as soon as possible to plan their care and avoid unnecessary risks.