Dear Member
We welcome any feedback on the contents of the 20th issue of ASMS Direct for 2009. This copy of ASMS Direct focuses on:
1. Public hospital service workers to strike.
2. Conflicting government actions on health professional engagement.
1. Public hospital service workers to strike
Over 2700 public hospital service workers will be striking for four hours this Friday (27 November) to protest at what they describe as a “wage freeze that is being imposed on them” by DHBs and the government. Orderlies, food service workers, cleaners and security staff who are members of the Service and Food Workers Union will be striking between 11a.m-3pm on Friday at all public hospitals from Kaitaia to Invercargill.
Service and Food Workers Union National Secretary John Ryall (no relation to you know who) said that negotiations with the DHBs and some contracting companies had been taking place since May but during this time there had been no movement in the “nil increase” that was on offer. In a media statement released on 23 November Mr Ryall said:
"Despite the DHBs being given a government funding increase of 3.1% this year they are refusing to pass on even one cent of that to the lowest paid hospital workers.
We have been told by the DHBs that the Government has instructed them that there will be no increase in any public hospital agreement wage rate this year without specific agreement of the Minister of Health.The $37,000 housing allowances that are now being given to cabinet ministers are worth more than the annual income of most public hospital service workers.
It is time to lift the freeze on the wages of the lowest paid so that they can pay their rent as well."
2. Conflicting government actions on health professional engagement
The Time for Quality agreement signed by the 21 DHBs and ASMS in August 2008 and the Government’s policy statement In Good Hands, are important documents affirming and promoting health professional engagement and leadership in DHBs. Health Minister, Tony Ryall has been an active proponent of clinician engagement and leadership. Unfortunately they were disregarded by the Minister of Health when revising the protocol for DHB use of the private sector earlier this year.
In August 2006, largely due to advocacy from the ASMS and arising out of a number of poor processes affecting hospital laboratories, the then Labour Minister of Health (Pete Hodgson) agreed to changes in the provider selection protocol used when a DHB has a proposal to shift services to the private sector. These were:
In respect of hospital based services. In the event that public and private delivery options are equally effective… then:
- for long term delivery of services, publicly provided services are preferred
However, the National government has removed this preference for public provision in long-term contracting arrangements. Compounding this disappointment and particularly surprising was the other noteworthy removal:
Where a DHB is considering shifting services to a non-DHB provider, it must actively and constructively engage with the health professionals involved in the provision of the service, about the objectives the DHB is trying to achieve, and whether there are other more cost-effective means of achieving those objectives.
Whereas the Minister engaged with the ASMS over clinical leadership, In Good Hands in particular, there was no such engagement over this deletion. But what he deleted was a provision for clinical engagement in action and in a specific context.
The Time for Quality agreement, In Good Hands and the engagement obligations of the national DHB MECA still give the ASMS important weapons in preventing unjustified contracting out of secondary services but the Minister’s decision nevertheless gives a confused message.
Best wishes
Ian Powell
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
