Kerri Nuku, Kaiwhakahaere
Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO

This has been an exhausting yet rewarding week for me. Our conference and AGM were very successful with some impressive guests.

On Wednesday we welcomed Minister of Health Ayesha Verrall, and after bringing Pay Equity over the line this year among other achievements, she was warmly received by our members, who acknowledged her mahi.

Our theme at the conference was Challenging the Health System. There is no doubt that patient health outcomes are influenced by what happens when a patient encounters or engages in any part of the health care system and influenced by the level of social needs of the individual. This is not a new phenomenon, COVID didn’t create the crisis, COVID exposed the fragility of the system, but COVID didn’t create the crisis, the crisis is that the system was never designed to serve the interests of the individual and communities.

Any health system that fails to address the social determinants of health or public health approach to address the health disparities will fail to address or respond to the needs of the community who will become reliant on health services. Our own definition of what failure looks like identified that more than 10 percent of people did not receive cancer treatment within 62 days from a diagnosis the in the lowest performing DHB’s nearly a third of people were still waiting for cancer treatment after 62 days. That persistent and marked inequities still exist and access and outcomes for Māori and Pasifika and low-income populations.

That the lack of progress and investment in sustainable Māori workforce despite various initiatives that to date have not delivered. That the system has failed to plan and respond to the shifting demands and failed to protect the safety of workers while they’re at work.
So, what is our role and how can we make some practical change? Firstly, we must learn to understand the system that we all work in. We must understand who and what drives change and who are the leaders in those positions of power and what is informing the desire for change. Financial funding and power are the designers of the system and not one based on the needs of community.

What is obvious is that there is much work to do to ensure that the role of nurses, kai mahi healthcare workers, midwives and students are equally recognised for the contributions that they make, and as an organisation we must take responsibility in leading that change for ourselves. We acknowledge that our own language and constant single us of the word “Nurse” discriminates and disregards other groups of healthcare workers for whom our organisation represents. Leadership and change are needed.

Maranga Mai!