Irihapeti Ramsden features in prestigious journal.

THE PRESTIGIOUS BMJ (British Medical Journal) has published an obituary on cultural safety architect Irihapeti Ramsden in its August 23, 2003 edition. The obituary was written by New Zealand nursing researcher Lis Ellison-Loschmann.

The obituary stated that Ramsden "consistently argued for the need to address the ongoing impact of historical, social, and political processes on Maori health disparities. Her ideas were both challenging and threatening to many pakeha (European) New Zealanders who were, and are, often ignorant of the country's history and fearful of difference," the obituary stated.

Referring to the sometimes "vicious media coverage" of cultural safety, the obituary said Ramsden "calmly and eloquently responded to misrepresentations and accusations about the aims of cultural safety."

The obituary prompted a response from a consultant radiologist in Bolton, England, Rakesh Mehan, who said it would have been more appropriate in "one of the many nursing journals rather than the BMJ".

A professor of nursing and the head of the Mary Seacole Centre for Nursing Practice, based at the Thames Valley University in London, Elizabeth Anionwu, disagreed with Mehan and congratulated the BMJ for publishing the obituary. She said Mehan's comments were surprising as the obituary featured in an issue which included many papers about indigenous health.

* Standards relating to cultural safety have been included in Hutt Valley District Health Board's (DHB) magnet hospital pilot project. Project manager at the DHB, Amanda Arnold, said the lack of cultural safety standards in the American magnet hospital model was a deficit and the pilot project wanted to refer more directly to New Zealand's bicultural needs. "It is good to know that although Irihapeti has died, her work lives on," Arnold said.