Te Rōpu Hauora o Te Arawa has handed over the baton in what has been described as one of the biggest system transformations in decades.

A pōhiri was held on Friday at Rotowhio Marae at Te Puia for Te Tira Haere a Pūhaorangi and Te Taura Ora o Waiariki: Te Arawa Iwi Māori Partnership Board, who are the two new Te Arawa health boards.

Te Tira Haere a Pūhaorangi is the new hapū and iwi board responsible for bringing the Te Arawa voice and priorities to Te Taura Ora o Waiariki. The latter's role is to then influence Health NZ and the Māori Health Authority, and approve locality plans that will describe how hauora services will be delivered locally.

TRHOTA outgoing co-chair, Jenny Kaka-Scott, says the pōhiri was the local baton change event, which signals the handover from TRHOTA to the two new entities.

'Te Rōpu Hauora o Te Arawa has now ended its iwi partner relationship with Lakes District Health Board, and the two new entities will fulfil a similar role. The change is aligned to our country's health sector reforms, which move away from DHBs to the dual Crown authorities,” says Jenny.

'Today's [Friday's] event provided an opportunity to get the message out to the community that the health reforms have kicked in via new legislation, which is the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022,” she says.

Te Arawa is the first rohe to have stood-up a two-tiered board, which was the model chosen to allow maximum participation. The IMPB has 11 members, consisting of 10 iwi representatives and one mātāwaka representative, while TTHOP has over 20 members and proxies.

'Throughout our consultation process across Te Arawa, it was clear hapū and iwi wanted to retain a voice at the table around hauora issues. This has been especially important since the appearance of Covid, where hapū and iwi have got a lot more involved. They're wanting to play a greater role in the health and wellbeing outcomes for their people.

'Te Rōpu Hauora o Te Arawa has been around for over 20 years as an iwi relationship partner, and this day was also about acknowledging all of its participants and iwi/hapū contributors.

'We're really pleased to have grown hapū and iwi participation in this space as part of the transition process. It's trebled so that's got to be a good thing,” says Jenny.