Over the last four years, primary healthcare provider, ProCare, has made significant progress on embedding Te Tiriti o Waitangi across all aspects of the business, but acknowledges there is still more to do.
In 2021, ProCare made a commitment to align to Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles and deliver key actions to help improve equity in healthcare in its ‘ProEquity’ strategy. This strategy came after extensive engagement with staff and wider stakeholders on steps ProCare could take towards achieving more equitable health outcomes.
Some of the key achievements during the last few years were:
- Significant improvements in the employee survey in relation to understanding Te Tiriti, cultural responsiveness, and inclusivity
- Appointing Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Tangata Whenua Directors
- Establishing formal partnerships with Māori-led community organisations like Smear Your Mea and Taumata Koorero
- Launching outreach services to improve access to healthcare services for Māori and Pacific communities
- Developing cultural training programmes and mobile apps to support cultural competency.
Bindi Norwell, ProCare Group CEO, says: “Embedding the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi adopted from the Ministry of Health – Whakamaua Māori Health Action Plan, enabled us to have a core focus on equity across our business over the last four years, and we are proud of what we have achieved so far. Feedback from our staff on the importance of Te Tiriti has consistently trended upwards, so it’s great to see the hard work by the team being recognised.
“We’ve recently conducted an audit of the strategy, reflecting on where we were at in 2021, what we have achieved so far, and areas of opportunity going forward. This has been great as we enter 2025, ensuring we bring all teams back to alignment and focus on a core direction,” says Norwell.
Mihi Blair, Kaiwhakahaere Hauora Māori, Mana Taurite (GM of Māori Health and Equity), says: “Our achievements as a business have been a result of shared commitment and collective effort across ProCare, as well as building authentic and collaborative relationships with not only Māori, but Pacific, and the diverse population groups that make up Tāmaki Makaurau.
“Utilising Te Tiriti principles, we have continued to build on our achievements, through actions like appointing Marama Royal, Chair of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust, to the ProCare Co-operative Board, welcoming Dr Minnie Strickland as a Pacific Representative on our Clinical Quality Committee, developing resources such cultural apps Ihi and Tala Moana, and giving our staff and practices access to our Te Pūheke training programme, endorsed by the Royal College of General Practice, to support them with cultural responsiveness,” says Blair.
“Our actions are a great step forward for ProCare, but we recognise there is still work to. This includes looking into how we can embed equity into all facets of the business. This could be advocating for funding and developing frameworks that align with Te Tiriti, co-designing services with the community, exploring more partnerships, embedding Te Tiriti as a key part of any policy and performance, and more,” concludes Blair.
To find out more about ProCare’s Equity Journey – Te Amorangi, read this infographic: https://www.procare.co.nz/media/3894/te-amorangi-procares-equity-journey.pdf
About ProCare
ProCare is a leading healthcare provider that aims to deliver the most progressive, pro-active and equitable health and wellbeing services in Aotearoa. We do this through our clinical support services, mental health and wellness services, virtual/tele health, mobile health, smoking cessation and by taking a population health and equity approach to our mahi. As New Zealand’s largest Primary Health Organisation, we represent a network of general practice teams and healthcare professionals who provide care to nearly 700,000 patients across Auckland. These practices serve the largest Pacific and South Asian populations enrolled in general practice and the largest Māori population in Tāmaki Makaurau.
