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The Herald understands a hospital patient asked not to be treated by staff of Asian ethnicity, distressing hospital workers.
Health NZ won’t release information about the situation, citing patient privacy, but says it is committed to making staff feel “safe, valued, respected”.
NZ Nurses Organisation boss says “regrettably, the response from Te Whatu Ora has been inadequate”.
The nurse’s union has fired a shot at Te Whatu Ora, saying it must “do more” to address systemic racism in the health sector, after a patient request not to receive care from anyone of Asian ethnicity was initially given the okay.
A major health union earlier told the Herald the incident occurred recently at North Shore Hospital in Auckland, and had left staff feeling unsupported by the public hospital’s response.
Health NZ - citing patient privacy - has refused to release information on what happened, and the fallout, but has said they regularly manage patients with varied and complex needs, and were committed to making sure staff felt “safe, valued and respected”.
But a health union leader said the incident showed Health NZ needed to do more to address systemic racism in the sector.
“We recognise the importance of patient rights. These should not come at the expense of the rights and dignity of our health care workforce”, Kerri Nuku said yesterday afternoon.
Racism in the health sector was, unfortunately, not a new issue, said Nuku, the New Zealand Nurses’ Organisation (NZNO) Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa kaiwhakahaere.
“The Waitangi Tribunal’s WAI 2575 inquiry highlighted long-standing inequities that the Government committed to address in 2020.
“Regrettably, the response from Te Whatu Ora has been inadequate, demonstrating another failure to tackle racism and systemic issues.”
The national health provider needed to prioritise the establishment of culturally appropriate nurse-to-patient and midwife-to-patient ratios across all healthcare settings if it was going to both improve culturally safe care and ensure equity for all patients, she said.
Health NZ declined to specifically address Nuku’s comments, with a member of the media team instead providing the same statement sent after the Herald first revealed the North Shore Hospital incident yesterday morning.
The Herald also earlier asked Health NZ for associated communications and briefings in relation to the incident, but this was refused because they said it’d “lead to the identification of the person and their circumstances”.
They had an obligation to provide care to all Kiwis under the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights, Health NZ said.
“We regularly manage patients who have varied and complex needs and have processes in place to ensure our staff are safe and patients get the care they need.
“This includes developing, executing, and monitoring individual behaviour management plans for some patients.”
The incident - where a patient requested to avoid treatment from staff of Asian ethnicity - occurred at North Shore Hospital in Auckland. Photo / Dean Purcell.
Robust escalation protocols were in place for staff to raise safety concerns, they said.
“Our kaimahi [staff] deserve to be able to come to work and to do their jobs safely, without fear of aggression, violence, or racism.
“We are committed to ensuring that we provide an environment where our people feel safe, valued, and respected.”
From what she’d seen, the way North Shore Hospital chose to manage the incident was unsupportive of staff and not culturally safe, said Sarah Dalton, executive director of the doctors and dentists union the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists.
“I don’t believe Te Whatu Ora acted as a good employer in the way it chose to manage this issue”, Dalton said yesterday morning.
“And based on what has happened since, we don’t believe management responded well. And it would also seem they have tried to prevent our members from talking to us about the issue, and that’s a massive concern to us.”
They respected staff members’ right to speak with their union or professional body, Health NZ said.
Dalton wouldn’t comment on details involving the patient but said Health NZ should have had protocols or procedures in place for responding to such a request.
Every consumer had the right to express a preference as to who’d provide services, and to have that preference met where practicable, according to the Code of Consumers’ Rights.
However, any situation that involved someone asking not to be treated by staff based only on their ethnicity was clearly not practicable nor appropriate, she said.
Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.
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