Latest news with #TeTiratūIwiMāoriPartnershipBoard
The Spinoff
11-05-2025
- Health
- The Spinoff
Culturally unsafe healthcare is unsafe healthcare – we cannot pretend otherwise
As a doctor, medical educator and iwi health advocate, Mataroria Lyndon has seen how cultural safety transforms health outcomes. The government's proposal to remove cultural requirements from workforce regulation, he writes, risks undoing decades of progress and putting lives at risk. As a doctor and medical educator, I teach clinicians about what it means to provide care that is not just clinically competent but also culturally safe. Every day, I see the power of cultural safety to strengthen relationships, improve health outcomes, and lead to better care. That's why the Ministry of Health's recent public consultation to remove cultural requirements from health workforce regulation is not just misguided – it has the potential to harm patients. The Ministry's Putting Patients First consultation includes a question that frames cultural safety as something separate from – even opposed to – clinical safety: 'Do you agree that regulators should focus on factors beyond clinical safety, for example mandating cultural requirements, or should regulators focus solely on ensuring that the most qualified professional is providing care for the patient?' This question promotes a false dichotomy. Cultural and clinical safety are not competing priorities – they go hand in hand. You cannot be clinically safe without being culturally safe. I say this as a Māori doctor, as someone who trains clinicians in cultural safety, and as a member of Te Tiratū Iwi Māori Partnership Board, which represents 114,000 whānau Māori across the Tainui waka region. We have formally opposed any move to weaken cultural regulation. Because to do so would be irresponsible, deepen inequities, and be a massive step backwards for healthcare in Aotearoa. Cultural safety is not an optional extra. It is core to best practice and has been embedded by many professional bodies, universities and regulators over the last 30 years. It applies to ethnicity and many aspects of identity – including gender, disability, sexuality or religion – that shape how a patient experiences care. It helps clinicians build trust, listen better, communicate more effectively and deliver care that patients can actually engage with. It empowers patients in their healthcare and seeks to address inequities within the health system. Healthcare professionals are bewildered. This survey was not requested by clinicians or professional bodies and threatens to set our health system back decades. Take, for example, the section that criticises some professions for 'prioritising cultural requirements' like an understanding of tikanga Māori in hiring, then suggests an alternative model of 'patient-centred regulation' that appears to exclude cultural factors altogether. It implies that cultural and clinical competence are in competition, rather than mutually reinforcing. In reality, cultural safety is central to clinical excellence. It's about ensuring that patients feel heard and respected. When patients do not feel safe – culturally or otherwise – they may avoid care, omit sharing crucial health information with clinicians, or disengage from treatment altogether. That can put lives at risk. The Council for Medical Colleges, Te ORA (Māori Medical Practitioners Association), the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the New Zealand Medical Council affirm that cultural safety benefits all patients and communities. It gives patients the power to comment on practices, be involved in decision-making about their care, and contribute to achieving positive health outcomes and experiences. It is also an obligation under te Tiriti o Waitangi principles in health to provide culturally appropriate care, a central pillar of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 to provide services that are culturally safe and responsive to people's needs, and an established priority in Te Pae Tata – the government's own interim health plan. In September last year, Te Tiratū Iwi Māori Partnership Board submitted both a and a community health plan to senior government officials, calling for high-quality, community-led, culturally safe care across our region. These are not niche views – they reflect what communities want, what clinicians are trained to provide, and what research has highlighted is essential for health equity and improving quality of care. So why are we entertaining a proposal to weaken this standard? If this consultation is any indication, it appears less about putting patients first and more about undermining decades of progress toward health equity. It sends a message to Māori, Pacific, takatāpui (LGBTQI+), tāngata whaikaha (disabled whānau) and others who have historically faced discrimination and marginalisation in healthcare that their safety doesn't count. That is unacceptable. Culturally unsafe care is unsafe clinical care. We cannot pretend otherwise. This is not the time to retreat. It's time to double down on our commitment to health equity and building a health system where every person – no matter their identity – receives health care that is competent, compassionate, and culturally safe.
Scoop
30-04-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Regulators Removing Health Workforce Cultural Safety Risks Clinical Safety
Press Release – Te Tiratu Not The Time To Retreat Its Time To Double Down Te Tiratū Iwi Māori Partnership Board is calling on health regulators to immediately reject any proposal to remove cultural requirements from the regulation of healthcare professionals, saying such a move would be 'irresponsible, inequitable, and dangerous.' It is responding to the current Ministry of Health online survey Putting Patients First: Modernising health workforce regulation that closes just before midnight. One of the survey questions tests whether regulators should focus on factors beyond clinical safety — such as mandating cultural requirements. Te Tiratū, which represents 114,000 whānau Māori of the Tainui waka rohe, has submitted a formal response opposing the proposal to remove cultural requirements from regulation. The submission, Response to Proposal to Remove Cultural Requirements from Regulation was prepared by Board member Dr Mataroria Lyndon (MBChB, MPH, PhD), a Senior Lecturer in Medical Education at the University of Auckland, where he trains health professionals in cultural safety. Dr Lyndon emphasises that cultural safety is not an optional extra — 'You cannot have clinically safe care without culturally safe care. Cultural safety is not a parallel concern to clinical standards; it is foundational to them,' he said. 'Removing cultural requirements from regulation can compromise quality of care, deepen inequities, and breach our rights as tangata whenua under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. 'When patients don't feel culturally safe, they may not share pertinent health information, and as a result diagnosis, treatment, and trust can all suffer. Cultural safety isn't just about respecting cultural values — it's about improving health outcomes, clinical quality, and patient wellbeing.' Te Tiratū fully backs this position. Without cultural safety, patients may not feel comfortable disclosing vital information or engaging with treatment plans — all of which undermines clinical outcomes. Cultural safety empowers patients — not providers — to define what 'safety' means in their care. Without it, patients, especially Māori and other marginalised communities such as takatāpui (LGBTQI+) and tāngata whaikaha (disabled) whānau, face disengagement, reduced access to services, and poorer health outcomes. The Council for Medical Colleges' Cultural Safety Training Plan, developed in partnership with Te ORA (Te Ohu Rata o Aotearoa Māori Medical Practitioners), outlines how cultural safety must be embedded across training, clinical practice, governance, and at a systems level. Its principles are widely recognised by national health bodies, including the Australian Medical Council and Royal Australasian College of Physicians, which link cultural safety directly to clinical and patient safety. 'Culturally unsafe care is unsafe clinical care,' said Dr Lyndon. 'To remove these requirements would not only wind back decades of progress toward health equity — it would expose our communities to poorer quality care.' Research shows that cultural safety is an important pathway to health equity, supporting respectful and accountable engagement between practitioners and communities. It enables clinicians to work more effectively with Māori whānau by recognising and countering bias, racism, and harmful stereotypes — all of which contribute to more positive patient experiences in the health system. In September 2024, as part of its legislated functions under the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022, Te Tiratū delivered its Priorities Report to the government, which emphasised the importance of culturally responsive care. [1] In a separate Community Health Plan also handed to the Deputy Chief Executive of Te Manawa Taki region and senior officials, Te Tiratū reinforced the need for high-quality, community-led, culturally safe healthcare across the Te Tiratū rohe. [2] Even the government's own Te Pae Tata Interim New Zealand Health Plan reaffirms the importance of cultural safety training for the Te Whatu Ora workforce. [3] 'These are not new ideas — they are community-driven imperatives and government-endorsed priorities,' said Dr Lyndon. 'Contemplating removing cultural requirements from professional regulation flies in the face of both.' 'It's about ensuring our patients, whānau, and communities are seen, heard, and treated with dignity. Cultural safety is a critical lever to transform the system and structures that continue to disadvantage Māori who on average die between seven and nine years earlier than the general population.' He points to the recommendations in the groundbreaking 2019 Hauora Report from the WAI 2575 Health Services and Outcomes Kaupapa Inquiry, which affirms the Crown's binding obligation to ensure Māori have access to culturally appropriate healthcare. 'We are urging all regulators to uphold their obligations to Māori under Te Tiriti o Waitangi and to Aotearoa's wider commitment to equitable, patient-centred care.' 'This is not the time to retreat — it's time to double down on cultural safety, for the benefit of all.'
Scoop
30-04-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Regulators Removing Health Workforce Cultural Safety Risks Clinical Safety
Te Tiratu - Latest News [Page 1] Not The Time To Retreat — It's Time To Double Down More >> Bringing The Smile Back To Taumarunui: Te Tiratū Iwi Māori Partnership Board Calls For Urgent Action On Dental Equity Monday, 14 April 2025, 3:22 pm | Te Tiratu It offered a range of on-the-spot services that included cardiac/diabetes/cancer screening, an eye clinic, immunisations, gall bladder/hernia/haemorrhoid banding specialists, to skin lesion clinics. More >> Te Tiratū Iwi Māori Partnership Board Hosts Inaugural Forum With Health Providers To Strengthen Whānau Voices In Waikato Thursday, 10 April 2025, 10:28 am | Te Tiratu The hui is a vital step in realising the aspirations of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act, which mandates IMPBs to bring the voices of whānau directly into the heart of Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand planning and decision-making. More >> Largest Iwi Māori Partnership Board Welcomes Bowel Screening Expansion & Calls For Māori-Focused Equity In Access Friday, 7 March 2025, 9:46 am | Te Tiratu 'Screening is an essential tool for prevention and early detection, and expanding access will definitely save lives,' said Hagen Tautari, co-chair Te Tiratū Iwi Māori Partnership Board. More >>
Scoop
30-04-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Regulators Removing Health Workforce Cultural Safety Risks Clinical Safety
Te Tiratū Iwi Māori Partnership Board is calling on health regulators to immediately reject any proposal to remove cultural requirements from the regulation of healthcare professionals, saying such a move would be 'irresponsible, inequitable, and dangerous.' It is responding to the current Ministry of Health online survey Putting Patients First: Modernising health workforce regulation that closes just before midnight. One of the survey questions tests whether regulators should focus on factors beyond clinical safety — such as mandating cultural requirements. Te Tiratū, which represents 114,000 whānau Māori of the Tainui waka rohe, has submitted a formal response opposing the proposal to remove cultural requirements from regulation. The submission, Response to Proposal to Remove Cultural Requirements from Regulation was prepared by Board member Dr Mataroria Lyndon (MBChB, MPH, PhD), a Senior Lecturer in Medical Education at the University of Auckland, where he trains health professionals in cultural safety. Dr Lyndon emphasises that cultural safety is not an optional extra — 'You cannot have clinically safe care without culturally safe care. Cultural safety is not a parallel concern to clinical standards; it is foundational to them,' he said. 'Removing cultural requirements from regulation can compromise quality of care, deepen inequities, and breach our rights as tangata whenua under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. 'When patients don't feel culturally safe, they may not share pertinent health information, and as a result diagnosis, treatment, and trust can all suffer. Cultural safety isn't just about respecting cultural values — it's about improving health outcomes, clinical quality, and patient wellbeing.' Te Tiratū fully backs this position. Without cultural safety, patients may not feel comfortable disclosing vital information or engaging with treatment plans — all of which undermines clinical outcomes. Cultural safety empowers patients — not providers — to define what 'safety' means in their care. Without it, patients, especially Māori and other marginalised communities such as takatāpui (LGBTQI+) and tāngata whaikaha (disabled) whānau, face disengagement, reduced access to services, and poorer health outcomes. The Council for Medical Colleges' Cultural Safety Training Plan, developed in partnership with Te ORA (Te Ohu Rata o Aotearoa Māori Medical Practitioners), outlines how cultural safety must be embedded across training, clinical practice, governance, and at a systems level. Its principles are widely recognised by national health bodies, including the Australian Medical Council and Royal Australasian College of Physicians, which link cultural safety directly to clinical and patient safety. 'Culturally unsafe care is unsafe clinical care,' said Dr Lyndon. 'To remove these requirements would not only wind back decades of progress toward health equity — it would expose our communities to poorer quality care.' Research shows that cultural safety is an important pathway to health equity, supporting respectful and accountable engagement between practitioners and communities. It enables clinicians to work more effectively with Māori whānau by recognising and countering bias, racism, and harmful stereotypes — all of which contribute to more positive patient experiences in the health system. In September 2024, as part of its legislated functions under the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022, Te Tiratū delivered its Priorities Report to the government, which emphasised the importance of culturally responsive care. [1] In a separate Community Health Plan also handed to the Deputy Chief Executive of Te Manawa Taki region and senior officials, Te Tiratū reinforced the need for high-quality, community-led, culturally safe healthcare across the Te Tiratū rohe. [2] Even the government's own Te Pae Tata Interim New Zealand Health Plan reaffirms the importance of cultural safety training for the Te Whatu Ora workforce. [3] 'These are not new ideas — they are community-driven imperatives and government-endorsed priorities,' said Dr Lyndon. 'Contemplating removing cultural requirements from professional regulation flies in the face of both.' 'It's about ensuring our patients, whānau, and communities are seen, heard, and treated with dignity. Cultural safety is a critical lever to transform the system and structures that continue to disadvantage Māori who on average die between seven and nine years earlier than the general population.' He points to the recommendations in the groundbreaking 2019 Hauora Report from the WAI 2575 Health Services and Outcomes Kaupapa Inquiry, which affirms the Crown's binding obligation to ensure Māori have access to culturally appropriate healthcare. 'We are urging all regulators to uphold their obligations to Māori under Te Tiriti o Waitangi and to Aotearoa's wider commitment to equitable, patient-centred care.' 'This is not the time to retreat — it's time to double down on cultural safety, for the benefit of all.'
