Ministry plan sets goals for improving service to Pacific people

The Ministry of Health wants to develop a competent Pacific health and disability workforce to better help Pacific people.

Its Pacific Health and Disability Workforce Development Plan, issued yesterday, sets out four goals and 14 objectives.

The goals, developed after consultation with Pacific providers, the Islander community and district health boards, are to:

* Increase the capacity and capability of the Pacific health and disability workforce.

* Promote Pacific models of care and cultural competence.

* Advance opportunities in the Pacific health and disability workforce.

* Improve information about the Pacific health and disability workforce.

The plan focuses on priority areas identified in the Minister of Health's Pacific Health and Disability Action Plan of 2002 and recommendations of the Health Workforce Advisory Committee.

It says mainstream healthcare services have had limited success in meeting the needs of Pacific peoples.

New Zealand and overseas studies also indicated that ethnic-specific provider services were more effective in improving access to healthcare for specific population groups.

"It is widely recognised that Pacific peoples are under-represented in the health and disability workforce," said the ministry's chief adviser for Pacific health, Dr Debbie Ryan.

"Attracting and retaining the health and disability workforce in an environment of increasing globalisation and international mobility is a challenge ... particularly for Pacific peoples who face barriers."

Dr Ryan said the Pacific health and disability workforce was drawn from an Islander labour market where people were less likely to have achieved the secondary and tertiary qualifications required for careers in medicine and healthcare.

Pacific families and communities often did not have good access to career or labour market information, and did not know of the range of careers available in the health sector and the potential to improve skills.

As well, Pacific students often took longer than other ethnic groups to repay student loans, and this debt could be a barrier to further training, Dr Ryan said.

"This plan provides a framework for all organisations that can positively influence the pathways for Pacific peoples within the health and disability workforce."

The ministry will monitor progress and provide six-monthly reports on how the plan is being implemented.

- NZPA