Members’ Update
25 July 2023
Tēnā koutou katoa,
Welcome to the members’ update for NZ Women In Medicine! Thank you for being a part of our community. Below, you’ll find an overview of some of the key activities that have been underway. We’d love to see you at one of the upcoming events in Pōneke & Ōtautahi!
Ngā mihi nui,
The NZWIM Committee
Release of Pae Ora Strategies July 2023
Orna & Justine were proud to be invited to the launch of the five new health strategies in Wellington on Wednesday 12th July, as Chair and Deputy Chair of NZWIM. The invitation was an acknowledgement of NZWIM’s mahi in helping ensure the inclusion of New Zealand’s first women’s health strategy alongside the Māori, Pacific, Rural and Disabled People’s strategies mandated by the 2022 Pae Ora legislation.
We note that the strategy is a high level document, and that actions and implementation are under the jurisdiction of Te Whatu Ora rather than the Ministry of Health. We have been assured by Minister Ayesha Verrall and Associate Minister of Health Willow-Jean Prime that NZWIM will be one of the sector bodies consulted as part of the ongoing development of this kaupapa.
We will continue to advocate hard for meaningful change and better access to services for wāhine, and want to thank all of you for your continued engagement, input and support. We have been told on several occasions that the NZWIM submission was an impressive document, clearly laying out the case for action. This is down to the multiple contributors who gave their time, energy and expertise, and to the hundreds of doctors who signed in support. THANK YOU!
Zahra Shahtahmasebi has done a great job covering this in The Spinoff, available here.
2023 Workforce Survey
A huge thank you to the 900+ doctors who completed our recent workforce survey: the full report will be out soon and will be shared on our website and in the media.
Initial results suggest that the upheaval associated with the reinvention of New Zealand’s health system has created a sense of pessimism, with only a minority of respondents feeling that their workplace conditions will improve any time soon. Most stark was the finding that only 14% of secondary care doctors and 5% of general practitioners felt they had not had the opportunity to give feedback on the reforms. The impression is of a profound lack of engagement on the part of Te Whatu Ora and the Ministry of Health, which may make ‘buy in’ to the reform process difficult to achieve.
The results have been published in full on our website, here.
Key Findings
- Only 6% of primary care workers and 11% of secondary care workers say conditions have improved since the establishment of Te Whatu Ora
- 6% of primary care and 5% of secondary care workers felt improvement in working conditions was likely in the next year
- Just 5% of primary care doctors and 14% of secondary care doctors felt they had been able to give feedback on the transition process
- Inadequate funding and an outdated consultation model were cited as changes required for primary care
- Lack of staffing was the major concern for secondary care along with poor infrastructure and inadequate IT support
- NZWIM suggests measures to address retention of current staff must be immediately prioritised along with the collaborative development of the Health Charter
Meeting with Associate Minister of Health
The NZWIM Chair & Deputy Chair were invited to the Beehive on Wednesday the 21st June to meet with Minister of Health Hon. Ayesha Verrall. On the agenda were the interim results of the NZWIM workforce survey, the importance of visible clinical leaders & leadership within the health reforms, and plans for the upcoming Women’s Health Strategy.
Unfortunately the Minister was unavailable at the last minute, but a very constructive meeting was held instead with Associate Minister of Health Hon. Willow-Jean Prime. Also in attendance were Ministry of Health Family and Community Health Policy manager Steve Barnes, currently leading the work on the Women’s Health Strategy, and interim Ministry of Health Director Primary, Community and Rural Emma Prestidge.
We discussed the surprising absence of a primary care strategy within the structure of the reforms, and the impact that primary care strains are having on secondary care. High rates of burnout among SMOs and RMOs is leading to a worrying rate of attrition, with overstretched primary care services managing increasingly complex patients. We emphasised that the fragile ecosystem within which we exist is in danger of collapse, and that the burning platform is one of retention of existing staff rather than overseas recruitment.
We requested an update on the long-awaited Women’s Health Strategy and were told to expect a high-level document setting the course towards pae ora, rather than an action or implementation plan (see above). We emphasised the fact that in order to implement the strategies, a workable workforce plan will need to be produced - watch this space. We have requested a follow up meeting with the Minister before the pre-election blackout and will keep our members informed.
NZMSA Conference 26-28 May
Grow, the 2023 NZ Medical Students Association conference, was held recently in Auckland. Featuring an impressive range of speakers including Professor Papaarangi Reid, Siouxsie Wiles and Dr David Galler, the meeting was full of inspiration for the next generation. NZWIM were proud to sponsor the closing panel discussion, ‘Wellbeing and Safety in Allies’. The NZWIM chair, Orna McGinn, joined Dr Jo Sinclair (Interim Clinical Lead, Employee Wellbeing, Te Whatu Ora), Dr Selwyn Te Paa, and medical student speaker Indira Fernando for a thoughtful kōrero expertly chaired by Vira Paky, 2021 winner of Amnesty International’s Youth Human Rights Award. Supporting those who are starting out on their medical journey is an important part of our kaupapa and we hope to have the chance to continue this mahi through our affiliation with NZMSA.
NZWIM AGM OCTOBER 2024
We will soon be in touch with the date of our AGM: this will be an opportunity to make contact, hear about what we have been doing, and perhaps volunteer to help with our kaupapa! This year’s AGM will be online, while 2024’s AGM will be in person, at the NZWIM conference in May.
2024 Conference: Save The Date!
Our first conference committee meeting took place this week. We are beyond excited to be planning the 2024 NZWIM conference, which will take place on 15 to 18 May 2024 at Takina in Wellington.
If you have any suggestions as to content or speakers, now is the time to get in touch!
Christchurch and Wellington Networking Meetings
Meanwhile, we have two more 2023 networking events in the pipeline: in Wellington on Friday 8th September, and Christchurch (speaker TBA) on Friday 13th October - we are not superstitious!
Come and join local colleagues for a kōrero and a cocktail. We would love to see you. We are also looking for members who might want to put together a get together in their local area. Please contact us if this is something you might want to be involved in - we never turn down an offer of help!