A NZME headline on Newstalk ZB web page allegedly from a Middlemore Hospital incident.

Now I do not consider myself a racist in any measure however there may be a degree of reluctance for essential intimate treatment from a person, who from media references may be less qualified, to become a valid concern for a Patient. In satisfying quotas and DEI considerations there may well be a lingering doubt in the mind of a patient entirely unrelated to the nurse and her recent mokokauae.

Personally I am in most instances reassured when a treatment provider is of a younger age group as they are more likely to be up to date with modern trends in Medicine then a rethink might arise when a clear lack of experience shows up during a consultation.

I have no longer any current knowledge of what St John Ambulance attitudes to training are but from the two decades ago when I was involved in many training sessions over in excess of a decade there was absolutely no quotas or DEI involved, every trainee was treated equally and the same standards required to achieve a pass mark and sign off. That accepted, the wokeness clearly involved in the bilingual rebranding of the service and equipment does not imbue that confidence once held.

Of course anyone with more than a passing involvement in rest home and end of life care well understands that if all the people of differing racial origins to European were deleted from that workforce the whole industry would grind to a halt PDQ.

Then there is the overt racism of many from all sectors of society who will indulge in the petty racism involved around attitudes to Maori and Jewery and others for many who should know better if they have a passing understanding of history in the traditional sense.
I sometimes struggle when confronted with bits of metal adorning a face and my long held understanding of the significance of facial tattoo on more mature Maori signifying seniority, life experience and recognition of a person of stature and influence, now adopted willy nilly by young Maori, often accompanied by overt political attitudes, does leave the possibility of questions of suitability and acceptance.

I have only ever asked for a change of a treatment provider for reasons of believed incompetence in medical treatment and ability but with a reluctance similar to never sending a meal back to a kitchen for a Chef to make a lesson in who is in charge there. I treat a substandard meal by not eating it and a making decision to not return to that establishment ever. Such arbitrariness in matters medical I know instinctively may have a result similar to a disgruntled Chef in the kitchen so although the incident at Middlemore may have been just pure racist in motivation for the Patient, notwithstanding there might remain more to the story than just the chin scribble?

That however might raise questions better not asked for the writer of the headline and their agenda? Joseph Los’e is the Kaupapa Maori Editor, not the Medical Standards Editor.
Gynecology is a rather intimate area of medicine some regard with a certain level of critical acceptance where attitude and spoken word might well trigger a reaction easily misunderstood?