With winter here, and illnesses circulating, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tamawhariua wants Western Bay of Plenty families to know they offer a free doctor clinic to everyone on Tuesday nights.
In fact, the health and social services provider, based at 111 Main Rd in Katikati, wants the community to know that all their services are available to everyone – not just Māori.
“I think some people see our Māori name and think: ‘Oh that’s for Māori people’ but pretty much anyone, no matter what age, whatever, they can walk in the door here 100%,” said Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tamawhariua operations manager Valarie Uilou.
“Our catchment area is from Waihī Beach all the way through to Whakamarama – and all services across the board that we offer, they are available to anybody.”
Free doctor clinic (sidehead)
Uilou said their free on-site doctor clinic is open on Tuesdays from 6pm-9pm.
“You don’t have to be enrolled in the service here. You can just come on a Tuesday night and wait in the line, if there’s a line, to see the doctor and the nurse.”
Uilou said the doctor clinic is particularly helpful for those not enrolled at a GP clinic, and people who work long hours and can’t get to see a doctor.
She said the rūnanga has fielded more calls about medical help since Katikati Medical Centre closed it books in February, so she wants people to know of the free service at the rūnanga.
“We also have a telehealth service. So if people can’t register at a medical centre, there’s potential to be registered with Pirirakau Hauora, a kaupapa Māori healthcare services collective member of ours.”
Many more services
Uilou said Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tamawhariua offers many more services – including support for adult and youth mental health, kuia and kaumātua, māmā and pēpi, tamariki and rangatahi (child and youth) advocacy and mentoring, counselling, plus whānau Tautoko (education, information, and advocacy to families), a Whānau Ora Kaiārahi service to walk alongside families on their journey toward wellbeing, independenc, and self-determination; advocacy for navigating complex systems like MSD, IRD or ACC; and Justice of the Peace services.
The rūnanga has 14 staff working across these services, Uilou said.
“Our aim is to empower individuals, parents and caregivers to confidently manage their own lives, strengthen their whānau and shape their own future.
“If we are unable to provide the services needed onsite, we will do our best to connect you with the most suitable support services or providers.”
Working whānau
The rūnanga is open 8am-4.30pm Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, and 8am-7pm Wednesdays and Thursdays.
“Working whānau – they’re probably the people that need the most support. To go and get any sort of help, they’ve got to take time off work to go somewhere, which is hard, and then they’ve got the travel, get in there [to Tauranga] and make the appointment, which can be hard because of all traffic and delays etc.
“The hardest thing for us is we live rural and having to get people in and out or to and from Tauranga for appointments, with the traffic, is difficult.”
The work of advocating on behalf of whanau with government agencies – such as MSD, IRD, ACC – is one of their biggest jobs.
“I just feel like people get hoha [frustrated] with dealing with them, so they just push it to the side and can’t be bothered or they get told ‘No, you’re not entitled’, so then they just believe that and leave it,” Uilou said.
But the rūnanga team can help, by making phone calls with whanau to access support. Navigating government departments over the phone is a headache for people. “But many don’t know you can do the uploading of documents on portals, so they don’t have to go all that way into the service – they can come here and we can that help them things like this.”
Don’t be embarrassed
Uilou said people shouldn’t be whakama (embarrassed) to get help. “For me, I just think that we all have struggles at some point in our life, and the first step is just coming to our door.
“We just want you to just come to the door – because we can’t help if we don’t know. And the biggest thing for me is I want people to know that it’s for anybody!”
If you can’t get to the rūnanga at 111 Main Rd, Katikati, contact them on 07 549 0760 or email: admin@tamawhariua.org.nz
Whānau Hauora Day
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tamawhariua is hosting a Whānau Hauora Day (Family Health Day) on Tuesday, July 1, at the Katikati War Memorial Hall from 10am-1pm. The event will feature a wide range of stallholders sharing valuable health and wellbeing information, along with kai (food) and fun activities for the whole whānau.