53783 (2024). Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall to the Minister of Health

53783 (2024). Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall to the Minister of Health: What progress, if any, has been made in the quarter April to June 2024 on the priority action ‘ensure everything that affects disabled people and their whānau in the health system is guided by the voice of disabled people and their whānau (The diversity of the disability community must be listened to, including those who have not always been heard. This includes partnering with tāngata whaikaha Māori, whānau, hapū, iwi and Māori communities and providers to ensure the voices of tāngata whaikaha Māori are heard.’ within ‘Priority 2: Ensure the health system is designed by and accessible for disabled people and their whānau and provides models of care that suit their needs’ as part of the Ministry of Health’s ‘Provisional Health of Disabled People Strategy: 2023’?

Hon Dr Shane Reti: The Health of Disabled People Strategy sets the direction and long-term priorities for the health system over the next 10 years. I am advised that for the period of April to June 2024, Ministry of Health officials were working on a Health of Disabled People Work Programme that would initiate the implementation of the Health of Disabled People Strategy (2023).