College Of Midwives “Pleased” With Govt Announcement But Warns This Is Not “A Long-term Fix”.

College of Midwives Chief Executive, Alison
Eddy:

The College is extremely pleased by the
Government’s announcement this afternoon which will see
overseas midwives be able to access the fast-track to
residency.

This has been a critical call from health
professionals including midwives, for many months and it is
pleasing the Government has heard us.

Let’s be
really clear though. This is not and cannot be a long-term
solution to the workforce challenges midwifery and other
professions are facing in the health sector. While this fast
tracking is positive, ‘growing our own’ New Zealand
educated midwives is the only sustainable long-term
solution. In fact we should have been doing this a decade
ago so there’s a lot of catching up to do. We must put a
strategy in place to improve the recruitment and retention
of New Zealand midwives; that’s the smart thing to
do.

We look forward to working with the Government on
the strategies to achieve this. We also look forward to
welcoming midwives into Aotearoa New Zealand to support our
hardworking and highly trained team of hospital and
community-based
midwives.

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