Nursing leaders have sent a strongly worded letter to Health Workforce New Zealand expressing a lack of confidence in the key government business unit.
The open letter expressing “significant concern” about HWNZ’s performance follows building nursing sector frustration with HWNZ since it was established in 2009, including its backing of the Ministry of Health's decision to import US-trained physician assistants while New Zealand-trained nurse practitioners struggled through lack of policy and funding support.
The New Zealand Nurses Organisation, College of Nurses Aotearoa, and College of Midwives have signed the letter, which calls on HWNZ to act now to restore confidence in its ability to do its job.
In particular, it criticises HWNZ for its “poor focus” on its core business of workforce projections and planning, “very poor” engagement with health practitioner organisations, lack of transparency, poorly planned innovations, and its ‘fragmented’ view of the workforce driving “increasing fragmentation”.
The letter also expresses concern about “introducing international models” as demonstration sites in the absence of “robust cost benefit analysis”.
College of Nurses executive director Jenny Carryer said the letter was not something the organisations did lightly. “We have thought long and hard before we did it. But at this point, workforce development is too important and too serious.”
The letter says all three signatories shared “significant concerns” about HWNZ’s performance. It also notes that HWNZ “ostensibly reports” through the National Health board, “however, its chair, Professor Des Gorman, has a direct line to the Minister of Health, the Honourable Tony Ryall.”
Actions called for in the letter include open and transparent processes, positive engagement with representative organisations, engagement with health workforce researchers, rigorous cost/benefit analysis of new health practitioners, and consultation with the sector on changes to models of delivery.
Carryer said HWNZ said at the outset its initial focus would need to be on the medical workforce before widening to the broader health sector. “I think that was an unfortunate start and think it precluded them from understanding the workforce as a whole.”
HWNZ director Brenda Wraight said HWNZ was disappointed to read of the organisations concerns and that it did seek to work in collaboration with sector representatives and did so on a daily basis.
“We recognise that there are significant changes underway in the sector which can cause unease,” said Wraight.
“Our intention is to continue to build on what has been put in place over the past three years, including embedding new processes for prioritisation of funding for clinical training, implementing schemes to help build and retain critical workforces, and providing support for a range of initiatives to enhance the role of nurses and midwives.”
She said it was keen to “work constructively with representative bodies” and to discuss the issues in the letter in more detail.
