Summary of priorities in Te Pae Tata

People will live healthier lives when they feel part of an inclusive community, have access to safe, good-quality housing, and are active with good nutrition and emotional support.

Improved community wellbeing will involve iwi, hapū, communities, local government, health and social services, along with other agencies and organisations.

Our COVID-19 response demonstrated that communities have the strength and capability to improve health and intervene early to prevent illness. Over the next two-years, we will build on these achievements continuing to adopt a preventive and proactive approach to supporting wellbeing.

Goals

• The health system will respond to the needs, strengths and aspirations of people and whānau to improve health outcomes for everyone.
• People and whānau will be supported to take charge of their own wellbeing, and to stay well and connected to their communities.
• Primary health care services will be accessible, affordable, and appropriate for all communities.
• Local communities will have a stronger say in health services through iwi partnerships and local networks.

A child’s first 2,000 days lay the foundation for their entire future. It’s a critical period that impacts a lifetime of health and wellbeing.

Over the next two years, the Kahu Taurima programme of work will take steps to improve services and support for babies, young children and their whānau.

Goals

• Maternity and early years health services, for a child’s first 2,000 days from conception to five-years-old, will be integrated, holistic and culturally appropriate for all whānau.
• Maternity and early years services that are Te Ao Māori, whānau-centred and Pacific fanau-centred will be more readily available.
• People will have better access to maternal mental health and wellbeing pathways of care, including access to bereavement and specialist mental health services.
• Wrap-around support for wāhine hapū antenatal and birthing care, including finding ways to provide long-term intervention and prevention services, will be provided.

Every year around 23,000 people are diagnosed with cancer and 10,000 die from the disease. There are opportunities for us to improve prevention and survival rates, especially for Māori and Pacific people.

Cancer patients and their whānau want customised, holistic, high-quality services. Over the next two years, we will focus on delivering equitable, high-quality cancer care services, from prevention to palliative care, that everyone can access.

Goals

• Everyone will have access to high-quality cancer care, no matter where they live. This includes cancer prevention services, better diagnostic options and better access to timely, high-quality treatment.
• Delivery of care across all stages of cancer care will be equitable, from prevention to palliative, end-of-life care and survival.
• More Māori and Pacific community providers will help improve Māori and Pacific participation in breast cancer, cervical cancer and bowel cancer screening.
• Care options for cancer patients will be as close to home as possible, while maintaining high-quality, sustainable services.

One in four New Zealanders live with multiple chronic health conditions that are often experienced by several generations in the same whānau – such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease and gout.

The best way for us to tackle these conditions is to support people and their whānau to live healthy lives to reduce the burden of these illnesses. Te Pae Tata outlines the goals and actions for this programme over the next two years.

Goals

• Health services and providers will work alongside whānau to improve health and wellbeing of affected people, reducing the need for hospital stays.
• Accessible and nationally-consistent clinical services will be implemented for diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory conditions, stroke and gout.
• Support specialist teams will work with primary and community care providers to make sure people and whānau get the treatment they need.

Over 50 percent of New Zealanders will experience mental distress and addiction challenges at some point in their lives, which can affect their ability to care for themselves and their whānau.

There is a great deal we can do to support better mental health and wellbeing for New Zealanders.

Over the next two years, we will continue the transformation of the mental health system that followed the He Ara Oranga report, including implementing and expanding high-quality, equitable services for everyone living with mental distress, illness or addiction.

Goals

• Mental health and addiction services for young people, rainbow communities, Māori and Pacific people will be enhanced and expanded.
• Te Ao Māori mental health services will be designed and expanded, and better access to and choice of services will be available
• There will be a focus on better mental health for Pacific people and tāngata whaikaha|disabled people and ensure services work for them.
• Support services for people with serious mental health problems will be increased, so they can live well in the community and avoid hospital stays.

We are building a health system which embeds Te Tiriti o Waitangi as its foundation, sharing decision-making and resources and making the whole health system accountable for Māori health equity.

The work Health NZ does to improve Māori health will reflect the expectation that Māori health improvement and equity is everyone’s business. Te Aka Whai Ora will ensure our system has a strong focus on Te Ao Māori.

Goals

• Improve equity of health outcomes for Māori and deliver on improving pae ora for Māori.
• Ensure evidence-based policies for prevention and wellbeing. Strong population health and prevention is critical to achieve equity and overall health improvement of Māori.
• Services will be whānau-centred and cohesive, and provide safe, culturally aligned, diverse and inclusive spaces.
• Primary care services for the future will be accessible, affordable, available and appropriate for Māori.
• We will increase the number of Māori coming into health careers, while also making our organisations safe and mana-enhancing places to work.

We know many areas of the health system are not working well for Pacific people, aiga, ngutuare tangata, famili, kāinga, magafaoa, kaiga, vuvale and kaaiga (families) and communities.

Over the next two years, we embark on a programme of work that will support Pacific families and communities in New Zealand to stay well, and to enable Pacific people to access the care they need when and where they need it.

Goals

• We will build and strengthen the foundations for Pacific health, and make sure there are Pacific voices in decision making across the health system.
• We will establish a robust system that supports Pacific health data, clinical and community insights to address Pacific health priorities.
• Supporting strong Pacific commissioning and Pacific Provider development, we will invest in more community owned and lead health services and engage with communities more meaningfully.
• We will support and grow a strong Pacific health workforce.

For more detail about the actions we'll take to support Pacific families and communities to stay well and access care, read Ola Manuia - Interim Pacific Health Plan. 

Tāngata whaikaha | disabled people make up nearly a quarter of Aotearoa New Zealand’s population. They belong to all age, ethnic and cultural groups, gender identities, sexualities, localities, socio-economic groups and every whānau and community.

The health system must take responsibility for providing appropriate, accessible healthcare for tāngata whaikaha | disabled people.

Goals

• All health services will be accessible, inclusive and equitable for tāngata whaikaha | disabled people.
• Inclusive models of care, pathways and services for tāngata whaikaha | disabled people and communities who need them will be available.
• We will commit to continued radical and measurable transformation towards people, whānau and community driven healthcare services.
• Tāngata whaikaha | disabled people will be supported to lead the conversation in the development of processes, planning, design and commissioning of health services.