Royal NZ College of GPs launches its Māori Strategy

Royal NZ College of GPs launches its Māori Strategy

THURSDAY 19 JULY 2012
Today’s launch at Parliament of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP) Māori Strategy is a significant milestone in its engagement with Māori, says College President Dr Harry Pert.

“The College has had strategic statements and principles related to Māori in its rules and programmes for some time.

“What we have now recognised is that to fully realise our strategic statements and aims for Māori health we needed to draw together our Māori-focused work into a single strategy and action plan.

“It is clear from health statistics that the primary health care workforce needs to improve both access for Māori and its delivery of services to Māori individuals, whānau and populations. Statistics show that Māori suffer from poorer health, higher infant mortality and lower life expectancy than all other New Zealanders and the Māori population is growing.”

The strategy supports the Ministry of Health’s Māori Strategy, He Korowai Oranga, and its aim of putting whānau at the centre of public policy. It contributes to He Korowai Oranga’s goals of actively promoting whānau wellbeing, quality education, employment opportunities and addressing systemic barriers.

“All general practitioners, Māori and non-Māori, have a vital role to play in improving health outcomes for Māori,” says Dr Pert.

“Our Māori Strategy pulls together the threads of the College’s work and infuses it with a greater awareness of what we need to do to fully contribute to the improvement of Māori health and wellbeing.”

The strategy contains sixteen action areas grouped under six broad categories: representation and equity, Māori cultural competence, quality, workforce development, the General Practice Education Programme (GPEP) and engagement.

“The strategy supports general practitioners to put cultural competence and fairness at the heart of their work, so they can serve their Māori patients appropriately and to the best of their abilities,” says Dr Pert.

The Māori Strategy will be available on the College website (www.rnzcgp.org.nz) from 11:00am on 19 July.

ENDS

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