The PSA is hosting regional and online health forums in December to give members another opportunity to have their say in the reshaping of services.
The forums will focus on mental health & addiction services, Māori health inequities, and disability services.
Members are invited to propose solutions from a worker perspective to failures that have been identified in the system.
The forums are in Wellington on December 2, Christchurch December 3, and Auckland December 6.
ENSURING WORKER VOICE
The forums come six months after the Government released its response to He Ara Oranga: Report of the Government Inquiry in Mental Health and Addiction, closely followed by a $1.9 billion mental health package in this year’s budget.
As the Government has been implementing changes, the PSA has been working to ensure our members who will be delivering transformed mental healthcare are represented in the redesign of services.
We’ve been meeting regularly with Deputy Director-General of Mental Health & Addiction Robyn Shearer, while PSA representatives have also met with the MHA Directorate to discuss the struggling state of crisis teams.
As a result of this crisis team delegates will soon be invited to gather workforce experiences and ideas to report back to the Ministry of Health.
EARLY INITIATIVES
Several new mental health initiatives have already begun making headway.
These include a $6m pilot programme giving 22 general practices and kaupapa Māori providers funding to place trained mental health workers into primary health services such as doctors’ clinics and iwi health providers.
The Government’s suicide prevention strategy has identified national leadership, using evidence, workforce development, and evaluation and monitoring, as keys to building a strong system that supports wellbeing and responds to people’s needs.
An initial Mental Health Commission has been announced to help establish a permanent commission in February 2021. The Commission will track the Government’s progress on actions to improve mental healthcare, reporting back to the Minister of Health.
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Also in this issue:
Working for Free
From November 18 New Zealand women effectively began working for free until the end of the year because of the 11.9% pay gap between men and women.
Kindly leading the way to Equal Pay
As women began working for free in New Zealand on November 18, the PSA was working hard on a number of fronts to close the gender pay gap.
Stand Up for Library Workers
Local government library assistants launched a campaign on November 22 to raise awareness of their equal pay claim and the work they do.
Stark statistics help fight for equal pay and transparency
More than a third of PSA members or 27,291 of you shared your pay information with us in our first union-wide pay survey in September.
CTU Conference: “We are delivering, but we have so much more to deliver”
The CTU Biennial conference in October was an opportunity to reflect on the significant gains made for working people during the Government’s first two years in power - and to challenge it to go further.
Fair Pay Agreements will give workers a fairer deal
The PSA and other unions believe Fair Pay Agreements will offer a fairer deal for many of this country’s most vulnerable workers.
Honours for workers on frontline
PSA members were to the fore as the Public Service Day awards
were announced in November.
PSAY Hui Inspires Success
Inspirational speeches at this year’s PSA Youth Hui have propelled Elvisa Van Der Leden into a seat at the council table.
“It opens their eyes”: Sector Māngai elected at Hui
There’s a mix of old and new amongst the Sector Māngai elected at Public Sector, DHB and Combined sector hui in August and September.
Reducing Māori Health Inequities
Appearing before the Māori Affairs Select Committee to speak to the Inquiry into Health Inequities for Māori was “awe-inspiring” for Allan Franks.
‘It’s important to have Māori and female voices at the table’
From small town Aotearoa to the United Nations – it’s been a big year for one PSA member from Te Puni Kokiri.
100 Years On - Labour is still not a Commodity
The 100th anniversary of the International Labour Organisation this year is a timely reminder of its continued relevance.
Fearsome fighter
PSA delegate Kelly Broerse says her colleagues at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) in Auckland are used to her showing up at work with black eyes and bruises.
A lifetime of discovery
Geologist, science communicator and PSA member Hamish Campbell can look back on forty years of “exploration, adventure and discovery” as he retires this year.
