Copy
View this email in your browser

Health Order for mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations in the health sector

Two members of staff at the Ministry of Health ran a webinar yesterday afternoon, giving an overview of the expected content of the Health Order for mandatory vaccinations. You can watch the full webinar (edited to remove technical glitches) at the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf25-rA8HsU&authuser=2

The slides from the presentation displayed during the webinar are available in the PDF below.

Health Order for Mandatory Covid 19 Vaccinations in Health Sector 20 Oct 2021.pdf

A lot of questions were asked in the chat during the webinar. The Ministry has produced an answer to each of the questions in the PDF below. Please note this document is 24 pages long!

Health Order for Mandatory COVID 19 vaccinations webinar FAQs.pdf

Some of the answers you may be particularly interested in are as follows:

  • Anybody who hasn't had their first vaccination by 30 October must be stood down from work on 31 October. It is unclear at this point if they will be able to work virtually until they have been vaccinated or if they will have to stop work entirely.
  • The Ministry anticipates that all practitioners regulated under the HPCA Act will be required to be vaccinated, irrespective of the setting they work in (including whether they work in private practice, the voluntary/charitable sector or the public sector). The Order is likely to be focused more on the role or setting the work is performed in, rather than the type of employer.
  • It is also anticipated that non-regulated professions who work in the following healthcare settings will also be required to be vaccinated: aged residential care facilities; home and community care services; kaupapa Maori health providers, Pacific health providers and NGOs who provide health services.
  • In addition, it it is anticipated it will apply to people working in roles within a healthcare work setting, including persons who "have contact with" (frequent contact, face to face and less than 2 metres social distancing) or in close proximity to healthcare workers providing a health service; persons whose place of work is where the health service is being provided; and roles undertaken by persons who do not necessarily provide a health service, but whose role requires frequent contact/engagement with those providing health services and is considered tied to a role within a healthcare setting.  
  • The Ministry anticipates that "frequent contact" with clients will be defined as "regular periods of time", irrespective of the number of times a day.
  • The Ministry are preparing a guidance document to help employers navigate the process; this will be released following confirmation of the wording of the Order. In the meantime, employers are encouraged to seek advice from their normal employment professional advisers. 
  • Employers may be able to apply for an exception for individual members of staff, based on the impact to the service of not having them available to work. Further information on this is being developed. 
  • Monitoring and compliance are expected to be implemented by the Ministry of Health and Worksafe. The Order will outline the process and penalties.
  • The Order does not include guidance on providing services to non-vaccinated clients; you will need to refer to your normal health and safety practices.
The Ministry will be hosting another meeting at 3-4pm tomorrow (Friday) which I presume will be after the Order has been gazetted. The link for this meeting has not yet been circulated.

Have your say about the COVID-19 Vaccinator role

The following message comes from the Ministry of Health.

The role of COVID-19 vaccinator working under supervision (CVWUS) was created this year to support the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination programme. It’s created a pathway for a diverse range of people to become vaccinators, including kaiāwhina, kaiārahi, pharmacy technicians, health administrators and health professionals registered overseas. Information about the role can be found here.

More than 75 health providers across Aotearoa are employing COVID-19 Vaccinators (working under supervision). This includes Māori and Pacific health providers, pharmacies, DHBs and primary care sites.

We are seeing success with this role in increasing representation of Māori and Pacific peoples in the vaccinator workforce: approximately 58% of people in training or working in this role identifying as Māori or Pacific.

COVID-19 Vaccinators are a small but important part of our vaccination teams. We’re looking at where they fit in relation to other crucial health workforce roles, and how they could further support these broader teams.

Next steps

We’re keen to understand further how this role has worked in practice. We are also exploring opportunities to support the health workforce into the future by building upon the role.

What to expect

  • A short, anonymous survey is now open, until 26 October. Employers, supervisors and COVID-19 Vaccinators can click this link to access the survey
  • Targeted focus groups for CVWUS and Clinical Supervisors are taking place on 27th and 28th October. Invitations will be sent to providers with this workforce.  If you or someone you know is a CVWUS or Supervisor who is keen to join one of the groups, please contact vaccinatorauthorisations@health.govt.nz. We are offering a koha of a $20 Grocery Voucher to each participant, to acknowledge their expertise and time
  • Opportunity to input into proposals about the future of the role

Please share the survey with your teams and keep an eye out for other opportunities to have your say.

In the meantime, people can contact vaccinatorauthorisations@health.govt.nz with any other feedback or questions.

ACC rehabilitation equipment supplier change

The following message comes from ACC.

We’re changing our supplier for the rehabilitation equipment you order through our managed rehabilitation equipment service (MRES). From 15 November, Enable New Zealand will manage our equipment purchasing and supply, recall and refurbishment of equipment for our clients nationwide.

Enable is one of New Zealand’s largest providers of disability equipment and modifications and already partner with us on several other contracts.

Getting ready for November

We realise November is just around the corner, but we’ve been working with both Enable and Accessable behind the scenes to ensure a smooth transition for all users and our clients.

Moving to a new MRES supplier will mean you will need to start using a new online ordering system. To do this, you will need to set up new login details and become familiar with the new system.

We’ll be in regular contact with you and your assessors over the next few weeks. This will include letting you know when you will get access to the new system, what support will be available to set you up, and how to navigate it. We’ll also let you know what will happen to orders currently being fulfilled, or new orders placed when we transition over to the new supplier.

What’s next?

We’ll be in touch next week with more information. All assessors who use the current ordering system will be receiving this information shortly.  In the meantime, please  continue to use the same process you use today to request equipment for our clients. All current requests that are underway will continue to be managed by Accessable.

If you have any further questions, please contact your local Engagement Performance Manager.

Thank you for your work with us to support our clients on their recovery journey.

Music Therapy research

AHANZ members, Music Therapy NZ, would like to share the very good news that the NZ Autism Spectrum Disorder Guidelines supplementary paper on the effectiveness of music therapy has recently been released, and the new recommendation is that “Music therapy can enhance social communication skills and should be considered for children and young people on the autism spectrum”. This is a significant breakthrough which has come as a result of international and national research grounded in good quality practice, and Music Therapy NZ along with music therapists throughout the country are delighted with this outcome. 
 
The research is available at www.health.govt.nz/publication/new-zealand-autism-spectrum-disorder-guidelines-supplementary-paper-effectiveness-music-therapy.  

More news tomorrow...

There certainly is a lot to talk about at the moment, and I apologise for contributing to the heavy load in your inboxes, but I hope the information I'm passing on to you is helping answer the questions you are no doubt fielding from your members.

If you are having any problems getting additional answers out of the Ministry, please let me know so the Executive Committee can follow up on your behalf.

Best wishes,

Nikky Winchester
Executive Director, AHANZ
executivedirector@alliedhealth.org.nz

AHANZ
AHANZ website
If you have any queries or comments, please contact Nikky Winchester on
executivedirector@alliedhealth.org.nz

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.






This email was sent to <<Email Address>>
why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences
Allied Health Aotearoa New Zealand · 17 Sea Vista Drive · Pukerua Bay · Porirua, Wellington 5026 · New Zealand

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp