anaesthetic technicians
Calls for more locally trained anaesthetic technicians, especially those who are Māori and Pasifika, have grown as the wait list for non-urgent surgeries continues to get longer.
Surgeries across the country have been pushed back, with a lack of anaesthetic technicians playing a significant role.
In May the Government revealed waiting times were a big problem nationwide. A task force was launched to help the nearly 36,000 people waiting more than four months for specialist appointments, and another 27,000 waiting for treatment.
To fix this blockage - partly due to too few anaesthetic technicians - the newly formed organisation Pasifika Anaesthetists in Aotearoa (PAiA) is proposing an increase in the number of local trainees with an emphasis on more Māori and Pasifika technicians in programmes.
Link to video and article: Calls grow for more Māori, Pasifika anaesthetic technicians (1news.co.nz)
