If we want more whānau to engage with the health system, we must grow the Māori workforce. Māori health workers are the backbone of culturally grounded healthcare. Our hauora Māori partners work tirelessly, adapting and innovating to improve the wellbeing of their communities.  

But more help is needed.  

To foster trust and improve patient-provider relationships, whānau healthcare must align with te ao Māori values, tikanga and traditions. 

This means supporting our existing kaimahi and growing our workforce with a clear pathway into mahi hauora.  

Te Aka Whai Ora is doing this, by: 

  • growing and building our workforce capacity  
  • focusing on uplifting and maintaining the wellbeing of kaimahi   
  • ensuring the health workforce is well immersed in mātauranga Māori 
  • investing in iwi and community-led workforce solutions, and  
  • creating bright futures and opportunities for rangatahi.  

For our kaimahi and tauira 

The Health Workforce Plan 2023/24 outlines the challenges facing our health workforce and how we can best address them. Te Aka Whai Ora has three core actions to attract, retain and support health sector kaimahi:    

Streamlining pathways for students into health careers   

  • Maximising tauira completion rates by expanding access to hardship support. 
  • Growing existing programmes to support students into hauora tertiary education and rongoā pathways. 
  • Extending opportunities for rangatahi and tauira to have paid health sector work experience in their rohe. 
  • Funding hauora providers to recruit and develop educator and training capability, so they can grow capacity over time.      

Strengthening hauora Māori workforce pathways  

  • Supporting students through their study journey and transition into mahi.
  • Scaling and funding access to earn-as-you-learn and modular training pathways for health careers. 
  • Growing access to postgraduate and vocational training opportunities across health professions. 
  • Lifting the number of trainees in the Nurse Practitioner Training Programme.      

Supporting kaimahi to thrive in the workplace  

  • Expanding access to clinical coaches for our workforce using mātauranga Māori models. 
  • Promoting governance leadership development to support health system stewardship and Iwi-Māori Partnership Boards.

He pātai?

Learn about support and opportunities for health workers.