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..
