The Government’s reviewing of health workforce legislation represents another attempt to attack health professions and the health workforce, New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) says.
NZNO Kaiwhakahaere says there is no basis to Health Minister Simeon Brown’s claims the current health workforce regulations were overly bureaucratic and slowed down access to care "making it harder for patients to get the services they need".
"There's basically no evidence presented to suggest that there needs to be a change anywhere. It's merely a set of ideological assertions. Where is the evidence of the problem that is being sought to be addressed?"
Kerri Nuku says the Minister has got this wrong on many fronts including the inclusion of an understanding of tikanga Māori, the workforce crisis, and the level of competency required by health professionals.
"Of course, the inclusion of an understanding of tikanga Māori is central to any profession in Aotearoa NZ and especially in health where the current underserving of Māori is a scandal.
"We've actually got 50% of our nurses from overseas. We need to find work for the Internationally Qualified Nurses already in NZ and ensure they’re culturally competent instead of bringing in more.
"New Zealand’s 1000 hours of clinical versus 800 hours in Aussie? How can it be a bad thing that we expect more of our nurses training?"
The review’s suggestions are regressive and needed a rethink as it seems like a return to the now discredited changes of the 1980/90s where ideology trumped evidence, she says.