Retired Rotorua GP Dr John Armstrong is being made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to Māori health. Photo / File
Retired Rotorua GP Dr John Armstrong is being made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to Māori health. Photo / File
Dr John Douglas Armstrong, member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori health
For retired Rotorua GP Dr John Armstrong being made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to Māori health counts as a highlight of his career.
“It was a total surprise,” Armstrong told the Rotorua Daily Post.
“I had no idea this was in the pipeline. I got the news in an email and initially, I thought, ‘What’s this all about?’”
Armstrong retired in 2020 as Rotorua’s longest-serving general practitioner and has been an advocate of te reo Māori and tikanga for more than 50 years.
Now he is one of the Bay of Plenty’s 2023 New Year Honours appointees.
Rotorua GP Dr John Armstrong retired in 2020. Photo / Andrew Warner
“One of the first things that I thought was I’m honoured by Te Arawa. I don’t know who or what groups put in for this on my behalf but I know that Te Arawa would have had a huge input into it.”
Armstrong also wanted to acknowledge all Māori health workers in communities across the country.
“They’re passionate about what they do. There are a lot of selfless people out there working away for Māori health without acknowledgement.”
Armstrong said medicine as a career has always been about serving the community and building relationships.
“It’s been a delight to be involved in Māori health.”
Armstrong said the Māori worldview and culture introduced him to “a whole new perspective into what it means to be a complete New Zealander”.
“It enriches one’s life.”
Dr John Armstrong in 2005. Photo / NZME
Over the years, Armstrong has used his commitment to te reo to help Māori patients become more comfortable engaging with the health system.
“The thing to understand is that we, who are Pākehā, come from a different paradigm, a different worldview. If you’re going to be effective you need to be able to deliver care in a different way.”
Armstrong has been a leading advocate of cultural sensitivity with Māori deaths and patients’ bodies, avoiding unnecessary post-mortems to return the body to the family as soon as possible, and negotiating with the coroner to ensure legal requirements were met.
He has also been active in suicide prevention, particularly of young Māori men, meeting with gang members and young rugby league players to address their health and mental health concerns.
Armstrong saw patients regardless of financial status, doing in-house and out-of-office calls, and continued to assist with childbirths to provide a one-on-one approach with a trusted face.
“I’ve had some very moving moments,” Armstrong said.
“I remember being involved in the care of a little boy who had muscular dystrophy who died when he was here [in Rotorua]. He was so brave and I was present at the moment he died and it was extremely moving.”
Armstrong said being with patients in those moments were the most important experiences of his career.
As he looks to the future, Armstrong said he hopes health governance allows for Māori-led innovation.
“I think that the first thing to understand is that the European health system has failed to address inequity for hundreds of years. It’s time to listen.
“It’s about listening to what the concerns are. If you just blame the victims it abdicates your responsibility as a health care provider. You’ve got to think outside the box.”
