Renal National Clinical network

Ngāti Rangi, Te Ati Haunui-a-Pāpārangi Muaūpoko

Leanne has broad experience across Aotearoa New Zealand’s health and disability system, including in clinical settings, governance, research, strategy, and iwi development.

Clinically, Leanne works as Aotearoa’s first pharmacist prescriber, focusing on complex multimorbidity and unmet needs. She is committed to weaving the strands of clinical excellence, cultural safety and indigenous knowledge and values.

In addition to general practice/medical clinics, she works in marae settings alongside rongoā practitioners, including in the Waimarino among her whānau, to optimise medicine therapy. Medicines optimisation acknowledges that medicines have the potential to cure, control or prevent illness but that they can also cause adverse effects. The aim is to ensure optimal use, so the impacts of illnesses are reduced, and drug-related harms are avoided.

Leanne sits on New Zealand’s Medicines Adverse Reactions Committee and was a Ministerial Appointment to the PHARMAC Review Panel tasked with reviewing Pharmac and to make recommendations on ensuring that New Zealanders have the best health outcomes from medicines and in particular Māori and Pasifika.

Leanne co-founded Ngā Kaitiaki o Te Puna Rongoā o Aotearoa, the Māori Pharmacists’ Association, in 2003 as a network to support Māori pharmacists and to hold the pharmacy profession to deliver culturally safe care to Māori.

A highlight of the awards and recognition Leanne has received includes being inaugural recipient of the Primary Healthcare Clinical Pharmacist Award at the New Zealand Primary Healthcare | He Tohu Mauri Ora Awards.

Leanne is focused on indigenous peoples and understanding how health systems can best support those who are disadvantaged, arguing for a medicines environment from a solution-focused societal perspective with mātauranga at its core.

Drew has been a consultant nephrologist in Aotearoa and Scotland for more than 15 years and is currently Medical Director and consultant nephrologist at Waikato Hospital.

He was the first full time nephrologist at Hawke’s Bay hospital between 2007 and 2011 where he led the development of the business case for the Hawke’s Bay Hospital Renal Unit. In parallel, he developed a comprehensive multidisciplinary renal service with provision of in-centre and home dialysis training, vascular access and parathyroid surgery, plasma exchange and local transplant follow up.

Drew developed outreach services to Wairoa and collaborated with the local community to set up the Wairoa community dialysis house.

After six years in Scotland, Drew returned to Aotearoa in 2017 and took up his role as consultant nephrologist before becoming clinical lead in 2019 and then Medical Director Cancer, Chronic Conditions and Radiology in 2022 at Waikato Hospital.

He is the medical lead for the business case and design for the new kidney unit Te Pureoranga at Waikato Hospital. He has been a member of the National Renal Advisory Board (2021-2023), the National Renal Transplant Service Strategic Group (2020-2023) and currently a council member of the Australia New Zealand Society of Nephrology.

Drew is an advocate for improvement in health outcomes for Māori and Pacific peoples including development of clinical equity measures to drive improvement and has helped increased transplantation rates for Māori across Te Manawa Taki.