Sue brings professional practice in health with a perspective spanning hospital and community based services, skills and experience in management and quality assurance, local knowledge and a desire to make an effective contribution to local health policy and management to her stand for the Board.

A qualified radiographer, Sue has worked at two hospitals and served on an Area Health Committee. She has a Post Graduate Diploma in Health Services Management and a PhD in Education.

 A current resident of Blenheim, and formerly of Nelson and the Marlborough Sounds, Sue wants to use her professional skills to help ensure the provision of the best possible services to support the health and well-being of individuals and communities in the Nelson Marlborough region.  She has a particular interest in the challenges faced by health boards in a time of rising costs, increasing demand and accountability for the use of public money.

Top 5 Issues

1. Financial responsibility and accountability to provide the best possible health services to the people of the district within the allocation provided by Government.
2. Less bureaucracy with more funding available for front-line services.
3. Achieving a balance in the way services are provided for the people of Marlborough based on sensible, cost effective solutions.
4. Providing effective programmes to address the increase in life-style related diseases e.g. diabetes and obesity, which are putting stress on our health services.
5. Ensuring that our district attracts and retains well-qualified health professionals

Personal Profile

Dr Sue Walbran , DipMed Rad, PGDipHSM, MEd, PhD is a qualified health professional and educationalist who currently works at the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) in Managment role involved in working in developing the capability of organisations. Sue is experienced in working with Boards and has served on a number of community committees.

Sue was raised and schooled in Nelson and trained as a Radiographer in Blenheim and proceeded to teach in that discipline. This led her into senior management roles at UCOL (then known as Manawatu Polytechnic) followed by 5 years working as an independant contractor in academic and quality systems development with a wide range of organisations.