A Critical Tiriti Analysis of the recruitment and performance review processes of public sector chief executives in Aotearoa.

OBJECTIVE: Breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Te Tiriti) and evidence of institutional racism have been consistently documented within the public sector for decades. Chief executives across the sector have a critical responsibility to lead the implementation of the Crown's Te Tiriti o Waitangi responsibilities. This paper examines the recruitment and performance review processes of public sector chief executives from 2000 to 2020 to ascertain Te Tiriti compliance. METHODS: Recruitment and performance review templates were obtained via official information requests to Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission. The data were analysed using a five-stage Critical Tiriti Analysis to determine compliance based on indicators developed around the five elements of Te Tiriti. RESULTS: Our study found no explicit evidence of engagement with te Tiriti in any aspect of the recruitment and or performance review processes in the documents released. CONCLUSIONS: This appears to be another contemporary breach of Te Tiriti that urgently needs to be addressed prior to the new round of appointments in the health sector. Implications for public health: With significant senior appointments about to be made within the health sector, this paper is a timely contribution to the wider debate about the implications of the WAI 2575 Waitangi Tribunal report on the health sector.

Maintaining cancer services during the COVID-19 pandemic: the Aotearoa New Zealand experience.

COVID-19 caused significant disruption to cancer services around the world. The health system in Aotearoa New Zealand has fared better than many other regions, with the country being successful, so far, in avoiding sustained community transmission. However, there was a significant initial disruption to services across the cancer continuum, resulting in a decrease in the number of new diagnoses of cancer in March and April 2020. Te Aho o Te Kahu, Aotearoa New Zealand's national Cancer Control Agency, coordinated a nationwide response to minimise the impact of COVID-19 on people with cancer. The response, outlined in this paper, included rapid clinical governance, a strong equity focus, development of national clinical guidance, utilising new ways of delivering care, identifying and addressing systems issues and close monitoring and reporting of the impact on cancer services. Diagnostic procedures and new cancer registrations increased in the months following the national lockdown, and the cumulative number of cancer registrations in 2020 surpassed the number of registrations in 2019 by the end of September. Cancer treatment services - surgery, medical oncology, radiation oncology and haematology - continued during the national COVID-19 lockdown in March and April 2020 and continued to be delivered at pre-COVID-19 volumes in the months since. We are cautiously optimistic that, in general, the COVID-19 pandemic does not appear to have increased inequities in cancer diagnosis and treatment for Maori in Aotearoa New Zealand.