Lack Of Representation A Slap In The Face For Nurses

The Minister of Health’s failure to appoint a nurse to the new Primary Care Advisory Group is an insult to nurses, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO says.

Simeon Brown has announced appointments to the advisory group set up to provide specialist advice on the future of primary health care.

NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says the first-person patients and whānau often deal with in primary health care is a nurse.

"Nurses are not only often the first point of contact people have in primary health care, they are the professionals who advocate for the needs of their patients.

"The appointment of six doctors, a pharmacist and a professional director - but no nurses - is a slap in the face for nurses who are the backbone of primary health care in Aotearoa.

"It is omitting patient advocates, despite Simeon Brown telling the Royal New Zealand College of GPs in July the advisory group is ‘about partnership - putting patients first by ensuring those who deliver care have a real voice in shaping the future of primary care’," Kerri Nuku says.

The advisory group also lacks representation by Māori health care practitioners or leaders.

"By ignoring the voice of Māori, the advisory group is destined to perpetuate a broken system by failing to address health inequities which cost Māori years of their lives and the country more financially in the long term.

"The Minister needs to tell the public what criteria he used to select this advisory group," Kerri Nuku says.

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