Eleven people have been selected to the newly established Bay of Plenty Health Consumer Council (BOPHCC).  

 The council will work in partnership with the Bay of Plenty District Health Board (BOPDHB) as an advisory body ensuring patient and community perspectives are a core ingredient of how services are developed.

It aims to enhance consumer experience and service integration across the sector. It also intends to promote equity and ensure that services are organised around the needs of the people in our communities.

The council will have input, and advise, on issues including development of health service priorities, enhancing patient safety and clinical quality and reducing inequities.

The council will meet monthly and holds its first meeting on Wednesday (11 July 2018). John Powell will act as Chair and Sue Horne as Deputy Chair. The 11 members are profiled below.

BOP Consumer Council members

Adrienne von Tunzelmann

Adrienne has an extensive public sector background, and has held governance positions at both a community and national level. She currently sits on the boards of Osteoporosis NZ, Age Concern NZ and Age Concern Tauranga.

She is on Pharmac’s Consumer Advisory Committee; the Ageing Well National Science Challenge’s Governance Group, is a patron of the Tauranga Community Housing Trust and is on Te Kaunihera o Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.

Her health-related roles have convinced her that the easier it is for the voices of consumers to be heard, and for them to influence the services they use, the better the health and well-being outcomes for patients, their whānau and communities.

Adrienne is a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Directors and in 2016 was awarded the QSO for services to governance and the community.

Florence Trout

Florence has a solid health background as a public health nurse, midwife, nurse educator and quality improvement practitioner. Her experiences as a primary healthcare professional, NGO board member, and life experiences with family, confirm her belief that healthcare requires compassion and respect for dignity. She also believes in easy access of healthcare for a growing population, distinguishing universal healthcare from other healthcare options.

Florence currently serves as an adviser to the community quality accreditation program Te Wana, recognised by the Ministry of Health. She has a diverse range of interests including rural and agricultural lifestyles, travel, and the arts.

John Powell

John served in the NZ Army Medical Corps as a territorial force officer, retiring as a Major (ED). He has worked in both the public and private health sector in management roles. John is an active volunteer. Currently he’s enjoying serving as a Justice of the Peace and as President of U3A Tauranga.

John moved to Tauranga with his wife Elizabeth nearly 12 years ago. He is has a passion to see inequalities experienced by New Zealanders across a range of health matters reduced.

Julia Genet

Julia has worked in the health and disability sectors for four decades. She is currently a Trustee of AccessAbility and Director of Imagine Better. She is a founding director of a family governed service established in 2004 to manage her son’s Enhanced Individualised Finding.

A Registered Nurse, Julia was a government appointee to the Hawke’s Bay Area Health Board and worked in the communications team for the Central Regional Health Authority. She has been a member of voluntary organisations both nationally and locally.

Julia attributes her passion in the health and disability sector, to experience and knowledge gained from her autistic son, and from supporting her husband who sustained a severe brain injury in 2000.

Lisa Murphy

Lisa has a background in Diagnostic Haematology and Sports Medicine. Building on these skills, she furthered her studies with an Associate Diploma in Business Management before embarking on a corporate career within the finance and insurance sectors for multinational companies.

Lisa has strong organisational and risk management skills, and possesses a forward-thinking approach to strategic planning. Committed to the retention and harnessing of lasting relationships with stakeholders, patients, and intermediaries with respect, dignity, and delivery of quality service being paramount.

Lisa has a particular interest in investigative research and advocacy, ensuring everyone can access quality healthcare and approaches to maintain effective governance and compliance. She lives with her daughter in Tauranga.

Maz McKevitt

Maz has lived and worked in Whakatāne for 30 years, appreciating all it has to offer she is a committed supporter of the Eastern Bay. She has an extensive background in education and health administration working for a number of local schools and organisations.

Volunteering for the Whakatāne Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) for the past three years she is a member of the local Board and the CAB National Board. Maz has a keen interest in governance and is focussed on ensuring that strategic decisions accurately reflect local level needs. She enjoys the team approach to problem solving and is motivated to make a difference to the effective delivery of healthcare across the Bay to improve the well-being of its people.

Rosalie Liddle Crawford

Rosalie is a medical scientist and lecturer who has specialised in Immunohaematology and Medical Microbiology. She began her career at Tauranga Hospital, before moving to the Wellington region where she continued working in medical laboratories and lecturing at Central Institute of Technology (CIT).

Returning to the Bay, she took up a role developing an online health and social services directory for both the BOP and Lakes DHB regions, before helping launch a similar directory for Canterbury. Her work has involved engaging with iwi, councils, health and social service organisations and businesses; providing service navigation; and setting up the volunteer project ‘Rise Up Tauranga’; which assisted Cantabrians relocate into the Western BOP as a result of the 2011 earthquakes.

Rosalie’s utilisation of technology, plus her adaptive influence across sizeable networks, has resulted in channelling the resources and drive of ordinary people like herself with something to contribute; turning their energy into effective action that improves lives.

Sue Horne

Sue is currently Principal of Maungatapu School, a role she has enjoyed for 16 years. Her education career spans more than 40 years teaching in Palmerston North, South Auckland, and Tauranga. She has a particular interest in supporting children with additional needs.

Sue has experience working alongside teachers, families and whānau, developing programmes and strategies to assist students with special needs to access the curriculum and to be able to participate confidently and successfully in school and community activities.

Maungatapu School is a dual medium school offering education in both Māori and English. Sue has supported the ongoing development of the dual medium status of the school and has fostered initiatives and opportunities for staff, pupils, and their families and whānau, to access quality learning opportunities in both English and Māori medium contexts.

Sue Mathews

Sue is strongly committed to making a positive contribution to improving health outcomes and strengthen each patient’s journey throughout the health system.  Until recently she was employed as a Community Health Lead for Eastern Bay Primary Health Alliance in Whakatāne and is now employed as a Bachelor of Nursing lecturer at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology.

Sue is a member of the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal for Nursing and Deputy Chair of the BOP Community Response Forum – Oranga Tamariki and she volunteers as Paengaroa Community Association Chair and Western Bay Museum trustee.

In 2013 Sue was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her contribution to community health – including Māori. She has previously been on the National Child & Youth Mortality Review Committee and was a trustee for Poutiri Charitable trust. Sue also has an understanding of community from a local body perspective as a Western Bay District Councillor from 2007-16.

Tessa Mackenzie

Tessa has worked in the community and social sector for 20 years, from grass roots to governance positions.

She has been a Strengthening Families coordinator facilitating hundreds of meetings for families. This experience has given her insight into what works and where issues arise when it comes to accessing and receiving a wide range of healthcare options.

Sue has often been a voice for others, and is not afraid to challenge the status quo to support people to have a say in their own health journey.

Wol Hansen

Wol is a psychologist, currently working at Whaioranga Trust in Welcome Bay and Tauranga. He has worked for Māori Hau Ora services for the last eight years.

Prior to that he was with Relationship Aotearoa and BOPDHB. The community is his focus and he brings to the position a wide range of life skills and experiences.