We have listened to the voices of many Te Hiku whānau throughout our journey so far. We have asked them to share some of the health and wellbeing issues faced here in Te Hiku ō Te Ika and their ideas on how we can creatively solve them for future generations.
Māori outcomes aren’t getting better. They’re getting worse. Why is that?
Tane, Kaumātua, 71
Also, we need to pay them enough, so nurses and doctors want to come up and work here.
Wahine
I want to see more kaupapa Māori services, more Māori doctors, more Māori nurses. I want to be able to access rongoā Māori from my GP.
Wahine, Kuia, 64
I’d like to be able to ring up and get a prescription instead of travelling in.
Wahine
I’ve come back from Australia to look after my brother. He’s struggling to get into a doctor in Kaitāia. I ended up taking him to Auckland. The system…
Wahine
My father just got diagnosed with a rare condition. He’s been like this for years and we didn’t know. Too late now.
Wahine
The GP in town hung up on me and won’t return my calls.
Wahine
You have to get angry. And then your name is mud.
Wahine
I had to go to 15 different places for the same thing. Why does it have to be this complicated?
Wahine