From
the Chair
Sally Webb - Chair, Bay of Plenty District Health Board
Nominations are now open for people to put
themselves forward for the 2019 District
Health Board Elections. After three terms
covering nine years of chairing the Board,
I’m retiring, but I thought I’d take this
opportunity to share with you a bit more
about the role of the Board, and hopefully
prompt some of you to consider standing.
You’ll fi nd more details about the election
process and make-up of the board within
these pages. The Board exists to govern the
organisation. The Board:
• sets strategic direction and priorities
• sets high-level policies and management
performance expectations
• oversees the management of risk;
and monitors and evaluates
organisational performance
• ensures the DHB complies with all legal,
statutory and constitutional requirements.
The Board members are not involved in day
to day management decisions.
So what’s expected of you,
as a Board member?
Each Board member has a duty to ensure
that the District Health Board is properly
governed. To meet this obligation, it is
expected the Board will:
• act in good faith
• act with honesty and integrity
• exercise reasonable care, diligence
and skill in our duties at all times
• lay aside all private and personal
interests in decision-making.
• not disclose confi dential information
acquired as a member.
The basic skills for a Board member include:
• integrity and a strong sense of ethics
• fi nancial literacy and critical
appraisal skills
• good communications skill
• strong reasoning skills and an ability
to actively engage with others in
making decisions
• have knowledge of a board member’s
responsibilities, including an ability to
distinguish governance from management.
Training is provided to ensure new members
fully understand their responsibilities.
Board members are expected to spend
approximately 30 days a year on Board
activity. Twice a month there are board
and committee meetings, the dates are
set in advance so you know what your
commitment is across the year and the
expectation is that members attend the
majority of meetings.
Every year thousands of people use our
health system – whether it’s through seeing
their GP, picking up prescription from
pharmacies, being treated in one of our two
hospitals or receiving home support services.
Our health system is important for the
people of the Bay - you could be there at the
Board table making a diff erence for your
community. Nominations close on August 16
- will your name be there?
He aha te mea nui o te ao?
He tangata! He tangata! He tangata!
What is the most important thing
in the world?
It is people! It is people! It is people!
Arohanui
Sally Webb
Whakamanahia te Waiū – Celebrating the Essence of Life. Pictured left to right: Frances Callan,
Frances Te Kani, Lactation Consultant & Project Advisor Karen Palmer, Toni Smith, Moana Delany,
Kelly Hohapata and Erana Burrows.
Better support for māmā
and pēpi in the Bay
A new specialised community breastfeeding
support service is set to provide better
support for māmā (mother) and pēpi (baby)
in homes across the Bay of Plenty.
Whakatāne, Kawerau, Ōpōtiki and Tāneatua
based Iwi Providers along with Plunket in the
Eastern Bay, and Te Puke based Ngā Kākano
Foundation in the Western Bay are providing
the support service for new māmā. Lactation
Consultants and trained kaiāwhina (support
workers) will be on hand providing support
and advice to māmā who are experiencing
diffi culties establishing and maintaining
breastfeeding. Support will be provided
through home visits, classes and clinics and
advice by phone, text and facebook messenger.
The BOPDHB funded initiative is part of
a series of ‘First 1000 days’ programmes
designed to improve the health of children
from conception through to their second
birthday. There is growing evidence that
focusing on these early years provides the
greatest opportunity to prevent health problems
in the child’s later life. This service allows for
an easily accessible central point of access
relevant to the population (especially Māori
mothers and whānau).
The breastfeeding support service started in the
Eastern Bay this month and is due to start in
the Western Bay next week.
Eastern Bay -Whakamanahia te Waiū /
Celebrating the Essence of Life
Expert help & support with
breastfeeding
where and when you need it
Kanohi ki te Kanohi / home visits
Wānanga / Group sessions, classes and clinics
Advice by phone, text, email, facebook or messenger
Ask your Midwife, Tamariki Ora Nurse, Plunket,
or GP for a referral OR contact us
Phone or text:
027 255 0305
Email:
[email protected]
Facebook: @whakamanahiatewaiu
This service is open to all Eastern Bay of Plenty
Māmā, Pēpi & Whānau
A Service of the EBOP Iwi Provider Alliance in partnership with Plunket
Co-design with māmā, iwi and health service
staff featured strongly in the development of
the service in the Eastern Bay. The service
logo, designed by antenatal programme
provider Kim Rameka with māmā from her
programme, refl ects a connection through
breastfeeding not only between māmā and
pēpi, but also to their whakapapa (geneology)
and Papatūānuku (the environment, the
land). So too does the service name which
celebrates the wonderful physical, cultural
and spiritual connection that is created
through breastfeeding.
The partnership between the Eastern Bay Iwi
Provider Alliance and Plunket means māmā
can easily access a referral and ongoing
support through the multiple iwi based
kaiāwhina (support workers) and other iwi
health and social services.
With 30 years midwifery and lactation
experience, Karen Palmer is helping to set
up and initially deliver this much needed
service. She is a leading expert in lactation
services recently delivering to the Western
Bay for Plunket alongside sitting on national
advisory panels for the Ministry of Health in
the breastfeeding space. She says, “There is
no doubt that timely and responsive help and
support can make all the diff erence to a māmā
struggling with breastfeeding.”
Karen advocates strong partnership and
support with iwi providers so that māmā
are provided with the very best clinical and
cultural support.
“Breastfeeding can be a challenge for many.
We aim to provide home and community-
based wrap around support - where and when
needed.”
Whakamanahia te Waiū will be offi cially
launched next Friday 2 August at the annual
‘Big Latch On’ event at Te Tohu o te Ora o
Ngāti Awa, Golf Links Road Whakatāne,
where wāhine gather with their babies to
breastfeed – a celebration marking World
Breastfeeding Week.
Western Bay -Māmā Maia
A play on the name of the ABBA song and
hit musical Mama Mia, the new service in the
Western Bay will be known as Māmā Maia.
Ngā Kākano Director Kirsty Maxwell-
Crawford says “Maia means strength and
confi dence. This refl ects the purpose of the
breastfeeding support service. We want
our māmā and whānau to feel confi dent in
breastfeeding their pēpi.”
Kirsty is passionate about supporting māmā
and whānau early, to help make the journey of
breastfeeding achievable and sustainable.
“I was a breastfeeding mum. I remember, it
was hard at fi rst. I thought it was supposed to
hurt. It was not until I met with a Lactation
Consultant that I learnt I was not latching
my baby properly. Having that support and
advice made it so much easier to feed my baby,
without the pain.”
Lactation Consultant Aani Sherwin and fi ve
kaiāwhina will be providing the breastfeeding
support service throughout Tauranga Moana
and Te Puke.
The Western Bay Māmā Maia team.