The Otago Daily Times Editor says. -
In October 2021 we editorialised that the rise of Te Kāika had been remarkable, and that its approach to delivering low-cost healthcare to the vulnerable had been vindicated by its spectacular success.
We meant it then and we would, largely, echo those sentiments today.
Te Kāika - conceived as a one-stop wrap-around health provider - was a brave and game-changing idea which worked.
At the time that earlier editorial was written it had about 7000 people on the books at its Caversham base, providing not only GP services but dental care, counselling, budgeting and welfare advice.
Te Kāika had, deservedly, won awards, and its finest hour was yet to come.
Its then management created those services seemingly out of thin air. Its staff gave themselves to that effort wholeheartedly, as Te Kāika gave sterling service to its community.
The Otago Daily Times takes no pleasure in today running an extensive investigation into the governance and management of Te Kāika.
As noted above, this newspaper has been an enthusiastic supporter of the kaupapa of Te Kāika. We have written approvingly about the organisation since its inception, in both news stories and features about its work.
It was, and is, a brilliant idea and, for the community which desperately needs its support, it needs to succeed.
However, concerns have been expressed about Te Kāika to the ODT for several years.
Mysterious and still unexplained changes in senior management were the catalyst for early questions about what was going on behind the scenes at Te Kāika.
As we started to seek answers, more and more questions arose. Former staff and former patients contacted us to express their concerns, and details of worrying employment issues and court cases emerged.
The work you see in today’s ODT is the outcome of, literally, years of work by several staff.
We do not publish it lightly. Te Kāika is a special organisation and a widely respected one.
But a critical part of a local newspaper’s role in its community is to highlight both the bad and the good.
While much that Te Kāika has achieved is commendable and the services provided by its hard-working staff are laudable, our investigations have raised many questions which need to be answered.
We are not the only ones asking about Te Kāika: the Department of Internal Affairs has launched an investigation into Te Kāika following the most recent audit of the multimillion-dollar organisation.
Staff, many of whom spoke to the ODT anonymously due to fear of repercussions, painted a picture of an organisation which still had enormous capacity for good at its heart, but which seemed to have sadly lost its way.
The ODT has placed this level of scrutiny on Te Kāika not because the newspaper wants the organisation to fail, but because we want it to succeed.
Its founders had a wonderful vision, and the impressive facilities it works out of today are testament to how the community bought into that kaupapa and backed it.
However, that vision has become murky; people with knowledge of how Te Kāika works today fear its brave and clear vision of offering connected community support and promoting overall wellbeing is being obscured.
That is why the ODT has placed Te Kāika under such rigorous examination. It is an important community asset which receives considerable public funding through its many service provision contracts.
The community served by Te Kāika should be confident that it is properly run for its benefit. As things stand, too many doubts exist to be able to say that wholeheartedly.
