By Chala Chase
•
April 20, 2023
Te Tara o Te Whai held a community meeting in Waihi in March to hear from the community about what changes they would like to see in their community. The following are highlights shared by the community: Accessibility needs for more accessibility and availability to health care services, practices in Waihi are not taking on enrolments, “my husband has to travel to Paeroa to see a GP. Support with palliative care. Having specialised care services delivered in our community, radiotherapy. Only two services offer emergency services. We don’t want to travel out of our community for care. Remove the cost of prescriptions. We now must choose medication or kai. We need safe spaces for our young people to access the services when they need to. Be able to access care options virtually that don’t charge for data usage. To have free family planning services. Need for early access to mental health support. Have open access to services. Funding models create collaboration barriers Need transparency of funding Workforce, need for more carers to support our older people Not enough workforce in our community More community nurses and GPs are needed Shortage of midwives