College Of Midwives "Pleased" With Govt Announcement But Warns This Is Not "A Long-term Fix".

College of Midwives Chief Executive, Alison Eddy:

The College is extremely pleased by the Government’s announcement this afternoon which will see overseas midwives be able to access the fast-track to residency.

This has been a critical call from health professionals including midwives, for many months and it is pleasing the Government has heard us.

Let’s be really clear though. This is not and cannot be a long-term solution to the workforce challenges midwifery and other professions are facing in the health sector. While this fast tracking is positive, ‘growing our own’ New Zealand educated midwives is the only sustainable long-term solution. In fact we should have been doing this a decade ago so there’s a lot of catching up to do. We must put a strategy in place to improve the recruitment and retention of New Zealand midwives; that’s the smart thing to do.

We look forward to working with the Government on the strategies to achieve this. We also look forward to welcoming midwives into Aotearoa New Zealand to support our hardworking and highly trained team of hospital and community-based midwives.

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