17 May 2010

Dear Member

We welcome any feedback on the contents of the 6^th issue for 2010 of ASMS Direct, our national electronic publication.

Progress in National DHB MECA Negotiations

Given the difficult environment the ASMS is negotiating in, our MECA negotiations are progressing reasonably well. We have had two informal meetings with DHB representatives in December and February followed by a constructive workshop on the recruitment and retention status of the senior medical workforce last month. We were pleased that for the first time nationally the DHBs acknowledged the seriousness of the medical workforce situation. A second workshop is scheduled for Tuesday 18 May on the Australian medical labour market.

Meanwhile negotiations formally commenced last Friday (14 May) in Wellington. As previously advised the ASMS has, at this stage, reserved its position on the key fiscal issues of salaries, after-hours’ call and shift remuneration, superannuation, and CME expenses, along with the term of the next MECA.

Nevertheless there was still much to discuss including the ASMS’s desire to strengthen the obligations of DHBs to be more supportive of senior medical and dental officers in resource provision and coping with workforce shortages. These are areas where it is difficult to be prescriptive without being rigid but we want to give more strength to existing generic provisions.

Overall the atmospherics between the two teams was good with some useful occasions. As is inevitably the case, there was the odd blip in the process, one being a fire alarm. Negotiations will resume on Friday 18 June in Wellington.

The ASMS was represented by Executive Director Ian Powell, Assistant Executive Director Angela Belich, National President Jeff Brown, Vice President David Jones, National Secretary Brian Craig, and Drs Judy Bent (Auckland), Carolyn Fowler (Counties Manukau), John Bonning (Waikato), Paul Wilson (Bay of Plenty), Torben Iversen (Tairawhiti), Tim Frendin (Hawke’s Bay), Athol Steward (Whanganui), Derek Snelling (Capital & Coast), Geoff Lingard (Nelson Marlborough), John MacDonald (Canterbury), and Matthew Hills (South Canterbury). The DHBs were represented by Fiona McMorran (DHBNZ advocate), Bronwyn Davies DHBNZ advocate), Sam Bartrum (Counties Manukau), Ron Dunham (Counties Manukau), Warrick Frater (Hawke’s Bay), Jeanette Woltman-Black (Hawke’s Bay) and Denise Hutchins (Nelson Marlborough).

Budget health funding analysis

On Sunday 16 May, Dr Bill Rosenberg, economist for the Council of Trade Unions, made the following media statement:

At least $555m more needed for Health to just stand still

An analysis of health expenditure released today estimates the Health vote in the Budget will need to be increased by at least $555 million just to keep pace with population growth, ageing, new treatments, new technology, and increases in general costs, pharmaceuticals, and salaries.

The analysis, undertaken by the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, shows the $555 million estimate is over half (50.4 percent) of the severely reduced $1.1 billion that the Government has said it will allocate to new spending in the 2010 Budget. It is well above the 40 percent of the operating allowance (equivalent to $440 million) which is the assumed allocation for Health in Treasury forecasts such as the December Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update.

This is only what is needed to stand still. If we want improvements in the health system or to address existing problems such as persistent deficits in district health boards and loss of services, further increases in funding are required over and above this.

The Government has indicated it will fund some health and education funding from ‘savings’ across the public sector.

The CTU and its affiliated health sector unions have made this estimate so that we and the public can judge whether the Health vote announced in the Budget on 20 May provides for improved health services, or is really a cut in those services, or a stand still.

The CTU has produced a brief Q&A and working paper (Working Paper on Health No.2) which are available on the CTU website <www.union.org.nz/budget2010>. The ASMS issued a media statement (available on our website asms@asms.org.nz which warned against the use of blunt funding instruments to achieve objectives.

Ian Powell
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR