New healthcare van meets community call
Te Whatu Ora Te Tai Tokerau’s new van, named Te Pahi O Ngā Iwi (The People’s Bus), was recently launched by Minister of Health Andrew Little in Whangārei, before hitting the road to the region’s mid and far north.
It will provide a range of diagnostic, assessment and treatment services for people, closer to their homes and without them needing to visit a hospital.
This includes echocardiograms to examine the structure and functioning of the heart. Echo ultrasound waves are turned into moving pictures of the heart that can be viewed on-screen. It plays an essential role in cardiovascular care, including early detection and treatment of heart disease.
The service will also provide other diagnostic services such as vascular (blood vessels) and ophthalmology (eyes) scans.
The van is a fully equipped diagnostic clinic, with a dual-purpose ultrasound scanner, computer, satellite dish, a bed, as well as air conditioning to keep patients and staff comfortable.
The mobile service will also incorporate telehealth technology, with the future goal to link with GP practices and rural hospitals.
Planned care initiative and performance manager Michaela Matich said the mobile service would help achieve a more positive health outcome for people, following timely diagnosis and the right pathway leading to earlier treatment.
She also said it had the potential to address some of the health equity issues that have affected Te Tai Tokerau Northland communities.
“It will benefit our most vulnerable, our most deprived, to increase equity of care, improve the patient and whānau experience and their health outcomes,” Matich said.
Mark McGinley, general manager — surgical and support services, said the project was made possible with funding gratefully received from the Ministry of Health.
“Thank you to all our staff involved, but especially to Michaela for being the driving force right through and making it happen,” McGinley said.
He also thanked local Mā ori health and community health providers for supporting the initiative and contributing feedback to help it best serve people around the region.
“It’s really exciting to be part of something new and innovative. We hear the community voices that say ‘bring the healthcare to the people’ and that’s what this mobile diagnostic service is all about.”
Whangaroa Health Services’ rural outreach health and wellbeing nurse Te-Warati Ututaonga-Pawa said they were excited by the launch of Te Pahi O Ngā Iwi.
“We know what a huge difference early diagnosis and interventions can make,” they said.
“In Whangāroa, we are some distance from hospitals, and not everybody has access to reliable transport. Bringing the services closer to the people will improve health outcomes.”
Shelly Poharama Hita, clinical manager with Te Kao-based Far North community health service Whakawhiti Ora Pai, said the value of the mobile diagnostic van aligned with their service’s name which means “a bridge to good health”.
“The mobile diagnostic van wears a simple heart situated on its bonnet; the depth of that heart is shown in the fruition of a vision that has been laboured over for many years.”
Based in Kaikohe, Te Hau Ora o Ngāpuhi clinical support specialist Hemaima Reihana-Tait said the mobile diagnostic van would help to overcome hurdles of access to healthcare by bringing the services to the communities.