Committed to equitable access for all

Masterton Medical is committed to ensuring that all patients – regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, culture, socio-economic status, geographical location,
wellness and ability – have equitable access to our health services. This commitment includes our Māori patients and acknowledges the importance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

We have appointed an Equity Champion to help us drive our equity initiatives.

What equity means to us

Taking an equitable approach means showing genuine care and respect to all patients; acknowledging every one as individuals and recognising their varying needs.

It means we will strive to provide every patient with the medical and wellbeing attention they need, without prejudice and through being mindful of unintentional bias.

How our patients will experience equity

Every patient will feel acknowledged and welcomed by friendly staff who make eye contact and greet them by saying their name.

They will feel safe and secure upon entering our environment and will have a positive experience of their visit to our practice, which will include:

  • feeling comfortable in our waiting areas.
  • experiencing genuine rapport with the medical professional they are seeing.
  • feeling valued, listened to and understood.
  • feeling as though the medical professional cares about them.
  • being fully informed about their condition, the treatment options available and potential outcomes to enable them to make the best decision with regards to their healthcare.
  • feeling confident enough to ask questions about their health and medical care.
  • not feeling judged by their appearance, socio-economic status, culture, religion or gender.
  • not feeling rushed out of the appointment session.
  • the medical professional checking that everything has been explained properly and asking if there are any more questions.

Every patient would leave the practice feeling satisfied that they had been treated well and given the most relevant and professional advice.

They would leave having no concerns about returning to the medical practice for another visit.