It all started over dinner with a friend from church when nurse Beccy Fenn told Dr Juliet Tay about having to discharge a woman from hospital with no plan for follow-up care as she wasn’t enrolled with a GP.
The committed health professionals knew this was no one-off – that where they work in South Auckland, without GP care, it’s all too common for people to be missing out on vital health treatment.
“They are the unseen population who don’t trust the system,” shares Beccy, 54. “It’s people who can’t afford to go or won’t go because there’s fear of being judged and a lack of understanding of their diagnosis or medication. They are unenrolled, disengaged and disenfranchised.”
“How can we do it better?” devoted doctor Juliet, 48, questioned Beccy during dinner.
Imagining a model where they could travel to treat people who need it most from a mobile clinic or in the patients’ own homes, Beccy’s prompt reply was, “We need to get a bus.”
And so the first spark for mobile health clinic bus Te Iti Pounamu Hauora was born.
It took several years but the close friends were so determined to make it happen that Juliet set the challenge to Beccy: “You go get qualified as a nurse practitioner and I’ll find a way to get a bus.”
Nurse practitioners have advanced clinical training and education with a minimum of a Masters degree.
At the time, Beccy was a registered nurse. But in one of her proudest moments to date, at 50 years old, she completed the qualification.
Holding up her end of the deal, Juliet secured funding from primary health organisation Alliance Health Plus [now The Cause Collective]. There, practice network manager Vanita Hira was also working on an idea for a health bus.
They’ve now been on the road in the Te Iti Pounamu Hauora bus treating patients, who are referred to them by social workers and organisations like the Police and Work and Income, since early 2022. But for Juliet, “It’s still surreal.”
The mother-of-three explains, “We deal with so much complexity every day in the lives of the people we meet. This work is so needed because if we didn’t have input, they wouldn’t go to a doctor.”
In many cases, the women’s work is life-changing and sometimes even lifesaving. Like when they connected with a diabetic woman in her sixties who hadn’t been to the doctor in years. She felt frightened and was struggling to manage her diabetes, but now has it under control with regular health checks.
Or a woman recently released from prison with no GP and significant health issues. Through Te Iti Pounamu Hauora, she was diagnosed with cancer that may otherwise have been missed, and is now getting treatment and managing her health conditions well.
“One of the biggest gifts is it’s allowed us to create a space for people to tell their story in a safe environment. They can also talk about health issues they wouldn’t otherwise do so,” shares mother-of-two Beccy. Juliet says it’s the best job she has ever had. She adds, “They have barriers you can’t break down easily. However, being present in their home and in their space, all the layers peel off and they tell you everything. It’s such a privilege.”
Health assistant Lia Teu, 22, who completes the team, tells, “Some of my patients have lost the hope of living. To get them in a space where they want to live again is amazing.”
Lia first came to New Zealand from Tonga as a 14-year-old with a goal of one day becoming a teacher. Now she hopes to follow in Beccy and Juliet’s footsteps, and is planning to study medicine next year.
“I never thought of a path in health until I worked at a vaccine centre during the Covid roll out,” she says. “Being able to gain the trust of people coming in unsure about the vaccine was amazing.”
Juliet adds, “Lia can read situations and understand cultural body language or notice things we might not pick up on. She has lots of gifts and it’s our dream to have more buses in New Zealand. We need to grow our incredible staff.”
Population health and social care organisation The Cause Collective [formerly Alliance Health Plus] secured short-term funding from Te Whatu Ora in 2023 to support Te Iti Pounamu Hauora, but has since been funding the service solo.
“We’re just really lucky they supported this bonkers idea,” smiles Beccy.
Continues Juliet, “We are very grateful for them taking a leap of faith. We couldn’t do it without The Cause Collective, each other and our families.
“It’s been an absolute career highlight and I wouldn’t change it for the world. It’s incredibly rewarding.”