NZNO seeks your feedback on proposed changes to employer-led temporary work visas that aim to ensure these are matched where there are genuine skill shortages.

Crucially for nurses and employers changes include:

• replacing the Essential Skills in Demand Lists with Regional Skills in Demand Lists and
• introducing sector agreements to ensure longer-term structural issues are addressed, so that sectors do not become reliant on migrant labour, at the risk of shutting out opportunities to New Zealander.

https://www.mbie.govt.nz/have-your-say/consultation-on-a-new-approach-to-employer-assisted-work-visas-and-regional-workforce-planning/

Please send feedback to policyanalysts@nzno.org.nz by 11 March 2019

NZNO seeks your feedback as part of a second round of consultation on reforms made to the family justice system in 2014. An Independent Panel tasked by the MoJ to examine the effectiveness of these reforms considers changes need to be made to the Family Court and related processes. The attached consultation documents (in English and Te Re Māori) outline their initial thoughts on a proposed direction for change.

https://consultations.justice.govt.nz/policy/strengthening-the-family-justice-system/

https://www.justice.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/Strengthening-the-family-justice-system-Te-reo.pdf

Please send feedback to Leanne.Manson@nzno.org.nz by 25 February 2019

NZNO seeks your feedback on proposals for change to the vocational education sector which will affect the education and training of many members. Currently 16 institutes of technology and polytechnics receive $500 million of government funding annually and are facing significant financial challenges with student numbers in decline, domestically by 1/3 in the last 10 years.

Following engagement with a variety of stakeholders in 2018, the government has three main proposals for change, with a view to making a decision mid-year and legislation being introduced later this year. These proposals include:

• a New Zealand Institute of Skills & Technology serving all of New Zealand and (so existing government owned institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs) are brought together as single entity);
• a unified national funding system of vocational education and training and
• new roles for providers and industry bodies Industry Training Organisations

The consultation document and additional companion documents are attached below:

• Consultation discussion document
• Roles of providers and industry bodies - technical discussion document
• New Zealand Institute of Skills & Technology - technical discussion document
• Unified funding system - technical discussion document

Please send feedback to sue.gasquoine@nzno.org.nz by 20 March 2019

NZNO seeks your feedback as part of a second round of consultation on reforms made to the family justice system in 2014. An Independent Panel tasked by the MoJ to examine the effectiveness of these reforms considers changes need to be made to the Family Court and related processes. The attached consultation documents (in English and Te Re Māori) outline their initial thoughts on a proposed direction for change.

https://consultations.justice.govt.nz/policy/strengthening-the-family-justice-system/

https://www.justice.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/Strengthening-the-family-justice-system-Te-reo.pdf

Please send feedback to Leanne.Manson@nzno.org.nz by 25 February 2019.

Phase one of the review is underway with the Review Committee seeking responses to a short list of questions on what people want from health and disability system. Nurses and the nursing support team are an integral part of the health and disability system, and NZNO seeks member feedback on the questions which can be found here:

https://systemreview.health.govt.nz/overview/give-us-your-views/

We would also encourage all members to respond individually to the online survey which will be live until the end of May  https://systemreview.citizenspace.com/

Please send feedback to leanne.manson@nzno.org.nz by 31 March 2019

NZNO seeks your feedback on a new scheme for the regulation of medicines. The proposed Therapeutic Products Bill will replace the Medicines Act 1981. It will cover all therapeutic products and medical devices, and controls on clinical trials, product approvals, and prescribing procedures. NZNO welcomes the proposed alignment of medicines with health practitioner regulation. We anticipate this will remove outdated legislative barriers to nursing, reduce the use of standing orders, and lead to a more effective use of the health workforce.

The consultation document accompanying the draft Bill sets out clearly how the scheme will work in practice. Chapter C details what the new scheme would mean for different sectors and health practitioner groups eg C8 (p.116) describes ‘controlled activities’ such as prescribing, issuing standing orders. (Note that it is proposed to remove the category of delegated prescribers.)

These proposed, and long awaited changes to medicines regulation are of SINGULAR IMPORTANCE to the profession and practise of nurses, midwives and allied health workers. We strongly urge all NZNO members and member groups to read and discuss the proposed scheme carefully and provide feedback.

• Consultation document
• Draft Bill

(Note that low-risk natural health products, including rongoā Māori and dietary supplements will be regulated separately. For more information see the Ministry of Health Natural health products page).

Please send feedback to Sue.Gasquoine@nzno.org.nz by 31 March 2019.

A position statement on violence and aggression towards nurses that clearly states the unacceptability of this behavior in the work context of nurses has been requested. 

This would be in addition to the other resources that NZNO provides on managing situations of conflict, de-escalation and health and safety in workplaces. 

The draft attached has had input from NZNO staff members and was drafted using research about nurses and colleagues in other health professions who are subjected to verbal and physical violence and aggression at work.

Please send feedback to sue.gasquoine@nzno.org.nz by 15 February 2019.

NZNO seeks member feedback on this Plan, which aims to provides effective, but time sensitive, treatment for acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) patients and support for the existing New Zealand Strategy for Endovascular Clot Retrieval. Once finalised the Action Plan will be submitted for approval as a National Services Improvement Programme.

NZNO is interested in your feedback on the Plan and in particular your views on:

• the action plan’s objectives;
• the 5 priority areas for improvement;
• outcome measures to track achievement of SCR objectives;
• supporting actions for SCR service providers to meet the objectives.

Download the SCR Action plan

Please send feedback to marilyn.head@nzno.org.nz by  1 February 2019

NZNO seeks your feedback on the latest draft standard for ambulance, paramedical and patient transfer services, specifically on a new section relating to “inter-hospital transfers”.

In particular, we are seeking feedback on the consideration of whether or not the role of ‘Pre-hospital and Retrieval Medicine Doctor’ (PHRM) should be considered for inclusion within the clauses relating to inter-hospital transfers (IHT), specifically clauses 9.1.2, 9.1.4, and Appendix B1.6.1 and B1.6.2 (highlighted in yellow).

• Link to the draft standard at the Standards NZ website

Please send feedback to marilyn.head@nzno.org.nz by 20 January  2019

Feedback is sought on the draft SNOMED (Systemized Nomenclature of Medical Clinical Terms) subset has been developed for  renal services which identifies the most common clinical terms for reason for referral, signs/symptoms, procedures (performed in outpatient settings), along with  working and confirmed diagnosis.

Please follow the link for more information: https://consult.health.govt.nz/hiso/ee943167/

Please send feedback to marilyn.head@nzno.org.nz by 1^st February 2019

Scientific research confirms that fatigue resulting from shift work and extended hours can degrade patient care and increase the risk of clinical error, workplace injuries to nurses, and drowsy driving accidents, as well as increasing nursing turnover and health care costs. Shift work, and particularly night work, can also have long-term negative effects on nurses’ health.

The Health and Safety at Work Act (2015) identifies fatigue as a cause of hazards and WorkSafe guidance identifies shift work as a cause of fatigue.

To help DHBs and nurses to meet their obligations to manage workplace fatigue, the HRC-funded Safer Nursing 24/7 project (HRC 16-133) is developing and implementing a new approach that incorporates sector knowledge and experience with the latest fatigue science and international best practice in managing fatigue and shift work. A key output from the Safer Nursing 24/7 project is the National Code of Practice for Managing Fatigue and Shift Work in Hospital-Based Nursing.

NZNO seeks your feedback on the attached draft National Code. 

Send feedback to jinny.willis@nzno.org.nz by 31^st January 2019

Revised Position Statements

• Substandard and Falsified Medical Products (Revision)
• International career mobility and ethical nurse recruitment (New position statement) PD

NZNO seeks your feedback on the attached draft position statements. Please use the Feedback form to guide your response. 

Please send feedback to marilyn.head@nzno.org.nz by 14 January 2019

NZNO seeks your feedback on a PHARMAC proposal to remove all funding restrictions from all presentations of atomoxetine, and change the funded brand of atomoxetine from Strattera to a brand supplied by Generic Partners (NZ) Limited. The Generic Partners brand of atomoxetine would be listed from 1 July 2019, and the community and hospital funding restrictions on atomoxetine would be removed at the same time. There would then be a transition period, detailed below, after which Strattera would be delisted. The Generic Partners brand of atomoxetine would be awarded sole supply from 1 December 2019 until 30 June 2022, meaning that it would be the only funded brand of atomoxetine during this time.

https://www.pharmac.govt.nz/news/consultation-2018-12-10-atomoxetine/

Please send feedback to marilyn.head@nzno.org.nz by 16 JANUARY 2019

The Health (Drinking Water) Amendment Bill makes small technical changes to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of existing drinking-water legislation. The Bill follows the recommendations of the Inquiry into Havelock North Drinking water:

https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/environmental-health/drinking-water/government-inquiry-havelock-north-drinking-water-outbreak-

NZNO supports safe drinking water as a fundamental of public health. We support any legislative change that enables greater responsiveness to emerging risks to water quality, especially given increasing stressors on systems via the environment (e.g. intensified agriculture; extreme weather events from climate change).  We particularly support legislation that enables a stronger, “joined –up” public health workforce infrastructure to manage risks.

Member feedback is sought  on this legislative change, for example, your experiences of:

• the capacity of the public health workforce to effectively manage health risks concerning drinking water quality;
• health impacts of poor water quality (e.g. giardia, cryptosporidium, blue baby syndrome),
• changes in the perception of risk regarding drinking water (e.g. since Havelock North); and
• smaller communities you are aware of struggling to upgrade water supplies.

Please find the Bill here: https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/bills-and-laws/bills-proposed-laws/document/BILL_78676/health-drinking-water-amendment-bill

Send feedback to diana.cookson@nzno.org.nz by 14 December 2018.

NZNO seeks your feedback on the above Bill which aims to give Māori electorates seats the same protection as General electorate seats. Currently, the general seats, under the Electoral Act can be abolished only by an entrenched majority of 75 percent or more, but the Māori seats can be removed by a simple majority of 50 percent. The Bill seeks to address this discrepancy.

This is an important constitutional issue, and we ask members to consider carefully what the removal of these seats would mean to Māori, their health and wellbeing, to te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership and the culture and values that have shaped and define Aotearoa New Zealand. Although we are a long way from health equity - (see MoH health status indicators), parliamentary representation has given Māori a ‘voice at the table’ that they might otherwise not have had and Māori MPs have played a critical role in health services for Māori.

The Bill can be found here:

http://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/member/2018/0056/latest/DLM4333802.html

Please send feedback to leanne.manson@nzno.org.nz by 7th December 2018