Maori make up only 3 per cent of the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board’s workforce, despite making up 12 per cent of the district’s population. Figures from the New Zealand Medical Workforce survey released last week show the proportion of doctors who identify as Maori is increasing nationally, although Maori are still under-represented in the medical workforce when compared to the proportion of Maori in the general population. Nelson Marlborough District Health Board Maori health and whanau ora general manager Harold Wereta said Maori employed by the health board made up 3 per cent of its total workforce, mostly in health care assistant and administrative roles. The proportion of Maori workers in Nelson and Marlborough’s health workforce had remained reasonably stable in the past two years, Wereta said. A long-term aim of the health board was to strengthen the diversity of its workforce, which would include boosting the representation of Maori, Pacific and refugee communities. The health board was exploring how it could improve the recruitment and retention of Maori employees, Wereta said. Steps had also been taken to improve the cultural awareness of all health board staff. “Maori health and health inequalities are the responsibility of all health professionals,” Wereta said.
…
