UCAN presentation to CCDHB

Posted on September 2, 2017 Updated on September 2, 2017

On Wednesday 22nd August UCAN made the following presentation to the CCDHB Governance Board.

Good afternoon. I will speak to the item about the ‘Citizens’ Health Council’.

The UCAN network strongly supports the moves the Board is making to draw on the knowledge and concerns of the residents of the District.

We also know from experience that it is not easy to facilitate productive public discussion in this political environment.

As most Board members know we have contributed to the public discussion of Health by drafting a Health Charter.

The Charter has been endorsed by a majority of the members of this Board, a dozen well known organisations and three political parties.

We produced the Charter because the equity of primary health provision – I mean ‘primary health’ defined broadly – was being undermined in the Capital and Coast District.

We noticed that the changes in Capital and Coast planning and funding were favouring people with the money, knowledge and day to day capabilities to manage their access to health services.

We were particularly concerned as community and union health services suffered a series of cuts and restructurings that changed the nature of primary health care.

For example, the disappearance of integrated, locality-based models for primary health such as SECPHO.

We doubt that the efficiencies being driven by the national consortium of General Practices as ‘Health Care Home’ are designed for or by high needs populations.

Given these kinds of national strategies, we also note that the logic of your funding arrangements seems to encourage the Board to prioritise the needs of your predominantly low NZ Dep populations.

There are deprived populations in this District, perhaps not as geographically concentrated as in other Districts.

Our other principle concern is provision for group living and day time activity for people with enduring mental illness.

We regard the events that led to the closure of Mahora House has a scandal that has not been addressed properly. A year has past since the Board received the Mellsop report.

However we acknowledge and support preparatory work done by this Board to consider improvements across the system for people with mental illness.

We suggest that the two issues I’ve raised – primary health care for high needs populations and residential and day provision for people with mental illness – should be early items on the agenda of the Citizens’ Health Council.

We also suggest that you call for nominations to the Council so that those who cope with the situations I have described have an opportunity to influence and validate the selection process.

A nomination process would also increase the likelihood of forming a genuinely diverse and creative Council.

Thank you.

Objectives of DHBs

Every DHB has the following objectives:

(a) to improve, promote, and protect the health of people and communities:

(b) to promote the integration of health services, especially primary and secondary health services:

(ba) to seek the optimum arrangement for the most effective and efficient delivery of health services in order to meet local, regional, and national needs:

(c) to promote effective care or support for those in need of personal health services or disability support services:

(d) to promote the inclusion and participation in society and independence of people with disabilities:

(e) to reduce health disparities by improving health outcomes for Maori and other population groups:

(f) to reduce, with a view to eliminating, health outcome disparities between various population groups within New Zealand by developing and implementing, in consultation with the groups concerned, services and programmes designed to raise their health outcomes to those of other New Zealanders:

(g) to exhibit a sense of social responsibility by having regard to the interests of the people to whom it provides, or for whom it arranges the provision of, services:

(h) to foster community participation in health improvement, and in planning for the provision of services and for significant changes to the provision of services:

(i) to uphold the ethical and quality standards commonly expected of providers of services and of public sector organisations:

(j) to exhibit a sense of environmental responsibility by having regard to the environmental implications of its operations:

(k) to be a good employer in accordance with section 118 of the Crown Entities Act 2004.