Starship hospital leaders say Treaty repeal law will make their job more difficult

Starship children's hospital at Auckland City Hospital. Photo / Greg Bowker

Starship children’s hospital leaders have spoken against removing Treaty of Waitangi provisions from child protection laws, saying it would make their job much more difficult.

Clinical and child protection staff at the hospital, which treats abused children or those with unexplained injuries, said there was a direct correlation between children who were culturally connected and their health outcomes.

A parliamentary committee is hearing submissions on a law change to scrap a clause that binds Oranga Tamariki to Treaty principles.

The Government has argued that the child protection agency was prioritising cultural factors over the safety of children.

Starship said it was speaking on the law change because of its unique position in the health system, at the intersection of child health and child protection. It has a dedicated child protection service, Te Puaruruhau, and works alongside police, Oranga Tamariki and Ngāti Whātua on child protection issues.

Jason Mareroa, acting director at Starship Child Health, told the committee yesterday that he wanted to “push back against the rhetoric” he was hearing every day about the repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act.

“Every day we get to see mokopuna [grandchildren] in our care who come with support and cultural connection and mokopuna who don’t.

“What we can guarantee 100 per cent is mokopuna who do come with that support and cultural connection get a far better and far quicker equitable outcome than any mokopuna who come through our doors, Māori or non-Māori. That’s a fact in our field.”

He added: “Believe it or not, the removal of Section 7AA has a direct impact on the hospital floor.

“Since 7AA we have been able to implement a holistic approach for how we can care for mokopuna. Before 7AA, that wasn’t a thing within Starship.

“What it does is makes our ability to care for children that come through our doors a lot more difficult, when that’s not an obligation.”

Starship paediatrician Dr Juliet Soper said the Treaty clause influenced how she was able to care for children within the hospital’s wards.

“Having the whole family understand what’s going on for that child, what healthy looks like and what healthy doesn’t look like, I find that I can influence the care that child gets through that whānau.

“What happens in a hospital is the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. What’s really gonna make a difference is that child being nestled in that wider whānau.”

In their written submission, Starship directors said they disputed the implication that valuing cultural identity led to reduced safety for mokopuna and their whānau.

“On the contrary, our experience is that disconnection to cultural identity and stability presents more challenges and increases risk of poorer long-term outcomes. The Bill fails to recognise that mokopuna flourish when they know who they are and where they come from.”

They said that in their expert opinion, section 7AA had reduced the pipeline of mokopuna Māori growing into adulthood with negative health incomes.

“Our experience confirms when mokopuna and their whānau are unable to experience their culture within their own tikanga and whakapapa, their risk of poor health outcomes increases.

“We have no evidence to date that proves the implementation of section 7AA has caused additional unsafety for mokopuna, and their whānau.”

The directors said that while there was more work to do in child protection, the current approach - “including the rigour of section 7AA” - was having a positive effect. They cited a 57 per cent reduction in Māori in care and a 34 per cent reduction in Māori in child protection services, which included Starship.

Committee hearings on the law change will resume tomorrow.

Isaac Davison is an Auckland-based reporter who covers health issues. He joined the Herald in 2008 and has previously covered the environment, politics and social issues.