Source: New Zealand Nurses Organisation
Iwi and Māori health providers are struggling to attract and retain nurses because of poor pay and short-term government funding arrangements, a new Infometrics report prepared for Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) has found.
NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says Iwi and Māori health providers are key to lifting Māori health outcomes and reducing inequities.
The Infometrics report How many more nurses does New Zealand need? identified 841 nurses working at Māori and Iwi providers in 2023 (page 80), representing 551 Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) because of the high number of nurses working part-time.
“To keep up with projected growth of the Māori population, the number of nurses working for Iwi and Māori providers would need to rise from 551 FTEs to 679, a rise of 128,” Kerri Nuku says.
“However, Infometrics found Māori and Iwi health providers are struggling to recruit nurses because of fragmented and often short-term funding channels, and funding not keeping pace with the increasing needs of their patients.
“Not only do these providers tend to have sicker patients, they’re limited in their ability to increase fees because many of their patients are on low incomes.
“Lower pay rates are also making it difficult to attract nurses with one provider unable to fill two vacant nurse positions for more than eight months.”
Māori and Iwi health providers have been underfunded for too long, Kerri Nuku says.
“This year’s Health budget allocated just 2.7% of spending to delivering hauora Māori services when Māori make up 20% of the total population.
“NZNO is calling on the Coalition Government to immediately address funding issues for the sector so providers can attract and retain nurses. A sustainable funding model, developed with Māori, for Māori, is critical.
“As we learnt during the Covid response, Māori and Iwi health providers are key to turning around Māori health inequities and saving the health system money in the long run,” Kerri Nuku says.
