Health body split in Hawkes Bay

Three Maori health providers have broken away from Hawkes Bay's Primary Health Organisation (PHO) and plan to start a rival organisation.

But doctors are adamant the PHO will carry on and have put together a plan to ensure business as usual.

The PHO, launched in October, promised to make health care cheaper and more accessible. But tensions mounted and last week, the Maori providers told the health board they were pulling out.

Chairman Simon Bednarek said co-operation had worsened until the PHO was unable to function properly. No single party was at fault, he said.