Health reforms paper anniversary: Thoughts from a practice manager in the provinces

It is hard as a manager to get your overstretched teams excited about the locality system changes

One main area of the reforms that stands out for me personally is that, overall, they have seen more intent from all national bodies for collaboration and recognition. The voice of mana whenua is essential for change.

So, one area I am happy to see is the establishment of Te Aka Whai Ora acknowledging our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

I look forward to seeing the valuable contribution, guidance, connection and leadership Te Aka Whai Ora provides general practice teams in navigating Pae Ora reform changes.

An area of the reforms where progress is not what I anticipated? Localities!

I understand many barriers have slowed progress but it is frustrating at a practice level to not have clarity or any direction, for a lot of us primary care frontline teams; we have lost the enthusiasm due to information not being readily shared as often as it was when we had (until last September) the Health and Disability Review Transition Unit. It is hard as a manager to get your overstretched teams excited about the locality system changes.

I hope we see more front-line primary healthcare leaders from all different models of general practice as key strategic partners included at future strategic and decision-making tables. More voices from the whole sector are required; collaboration and working in partnership is essential.

I think the communication has got better but it seems to be stop/start from too much information to not enough.
Score: 6/10

Michelle Te Kira is practice manager at Three Rivers Medical in Gisborne and chair of PMAANZ

Note: A shorter version of this response is published in the 5 July issue of New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa