■ Lyn Riesterer, chair of the Ōpōtiki Community Health Trust, shares her views on the Rural Health Roadshow’s recent visit to the Eastern Bay.

First off,  I would like to respond to the excellent article “Rural Health Roadshow visits Eastern Bay”, written by Tamara Herdman in last week’s Ōpōtiki News.

There were about 40 members of the public there and half of those were from Ōpōtiki.

In fact, Ōpōtiki people asked two thirds of the questions. I was so proud to see how much the topic of rural health matters to our community that so many travelled across to Whakatāne to ensure the ministers heard our issues.

On the topic of data collection, Minister Matt Doocey said they were looking to regionalise Health New Zealand again ... but therein lies our dilemma.

The Bay of Plenty region statistically looks to be performing well with regard to differing health issues, but when we drill down into district data, that’s when we really begin to see the inequity that is our reality in our Ōpōtiki district.

Take our maternity and obstetrics services: the most pressing issue for our community currently.

The night prior to the minister’s arrival in Whakatāne there was a community hui held by Te Whatu Ora to update each district in the Eastern Bay as to the progress that has been made since secondary maternity care services were suspended in Whakatāne in January 2025.

I counted at least 11 Te Whatu Ora management staff present, led by Cath Cronin (executive regional director of Midlands Health) and Nicola Ehau (regional Wayfinder, Commissioning team).

From the introductions, I gathered there were recent  appointments specifically made to progress resuming a full maternity and obstetrics service to the Eastern Bay, and I was really pleased to see that some proper “on the ground, doing the work” people were now there, fully engaged with our midwives, as well as recruiting senior obstetrics and gynecology specialist doctors from overseas.

Our mayor was present, confirming his continued support and advocacy for bettering health services available to the Ōpōtiki district, plus an additional 20 concerned community members.

We were delighted to hear an update regarding the work undertaken to improve maternity services … which had been downgraded in January 2025 by Te Whatu Ora (in response to the four or five maternity specialists moving or resigning from their posts here in the Eastern Bay).

We were even more delighted to find that Te Whatu Ora had begun to enhance service provision in Ōpōtiki (including assessments and iron transfusions), which meant our hapū mamas do not have to travel to Tauranga for midwifery assessments or procedures.

I also understand that there has been a slight increase in the number of births in Ōpōtiki.

The Ōpōtiki Community Health Trust sees this as the beginning of a return to a full, and perhaps enhanced primary maternity service in Ōpōtiki (as we have had in the past).

Ōpōtiki’s two lead maternity caregivers were present, plus two other Te Whatu Ora-employed local midwives.

Lisa Kelly (LMC) stated that there were (on average) 175 birthing whānau in our district each year.

Their biggest concern is that it is every woman’s right to choose where they give birth and that that choice is not available to our expectant mothers.

We have a primary birth unit, but it is in name only, without Te Whatu Ora’s backing or funding.

I can see that there needs to be some recruitment for more midwives here in Ōpōtiki, so our midwifery staff can support a a two-tiered roster of care, ensuring the provision of a safe, around the clock maternity service locally.

We all get that Whakatāne is not local for us … but also understand that some births will need the additional help from secondary services at Whakatāne Hospital … which then makes that “local” but not Tauranga.

Surely, the lower cost of funding a two-tiered roster is far more economical than moving all our expectant mothers to Whakatāne, then, most probably Tauranga?

I would love to see a cost analysis of this and, in fact, I will ask for this.

From all the community consultations, which were asked for by Te Whatu Ora, and where many concerned members of our community put time and effort into presenting our issues, concerns, expectations and even a well thought-through, economic solution to return maternity and obstetrics primary services back into our own centre … to date this has been ignored.

I could tell by the response to our questions at Thursday’s meeting that the two hosts did not expect us to listen to their kōrero but when they were finished, we dared to ask them “Yes, but what about Ōpōtiki?”

We look forward to their response and a fully restored maternity service with equity of provision across the Eastern Bay.

So, tying up what I thought after the two health-related meetings … yes, progress has been made on different issues, according to the Associate Minister of Health, the Minister for Rural Communitites and the Te Whatu Ora spokesperson.

However, Ōpōtiki Community Health Trust are still concerned that things change so slowly and that health solutions for Ōpōtiki are not obvious in their rhetoric.

Therefore, more advocacy is needed – from our community, from our civic leaders and from our MPs until the solutions are Ōpōtiki-centric and made workable through adequate funding and staffing.