Specific MOH service delivey guidelines for Support Worker training required
AE Cruikshank made this Official Information request to Ministry of Health
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From: AE Cruikshank
Dear Ministry of Health,
After being informed by a service provider administrative staff member that local MOH funded Support Workers are being trained to "actively encourage" service recipients "into independence" by altering how the support is provided by the support worker, without such alterations being made to the current Support Care Plan as determined by SupportNet, I would request the specific documentation describing any and all Ministry directives and policy requirements to be met as provided to MOH-funded service providers with regard to all such staff training given, and any directions to apply any such potentially detrimental, unsafe and inappropriate actions to existing contracted services.
Such encouragement to independence or downgrading of the services provided is not of benefit to those with any form of permanent, degenerative or progressive type illness and could cause further health and safety issues for MOH service users.
The support provider has no authority to make service changes outside, and independent of the guidance of the contacting MOH service authority/SupportNet contract administrator and any such training of their support workers needs to be investigated and remedied by official means.
Yours faithfully,
AE Cruikshank
Ministry of Health
Dear A E Cruikshank
Thank you for your request for official information, received by the
Ministry of Health on 23 April 2018. The Ministry's reference number for
your request is: H201803019
You requested:
After being informed by a service provider administrative staff member
that local MOH funded Support Workers are being trained to "actively
encourage" service recipients "into independence" by altering how the
support is provided by the support worker, without such alterations being
made to the current Support Care Plan as determined by SupportNet, I would
request the specific documentation describing any and all Ministry
directives and policy requirements to be met as provided to MOH-funded
service providers with regard to all such staff training given, and any
directions to apply any such potentially detrimental, unsafe and
inappropriate actions to existing contracted services.
Your request has been logged and you can expect a reply no later than 22
May 2018 as required under the Official Information Act 1982.
Please note that a working day is defined in the Act as ‘any day of the
week other than a Saturday, Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day,
Labour Day, the Sovereigns birthday, Waitangi Day and a day in the period
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year.
If a large amount of information has been requested or if the Ministry
needs to consult in order to make a decision, we may need to extend this
date (this is provided for in section 15A of the Act). We will advise you
if such an extension is necessary.
Yours sincerely,
Greg Smith
Senior Advisor
[Ministry of Health request email]
Ministerial Services l Government Services l Office of the Director
General
[1]http://www.health.govt.nz
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Ministry of Health
Dear A E Cruikshank
Thank you for your request for official information, received on 23 April
2018 requesting:
[After being informed by a service provider administrative staff member
that local MOH funded Support Workers are being trained to "actively
encourage" service recipients "into independence" by altering how the
support is provided by the support worker, without such alterations being
made to the current Support Care Plan as determined by SupportNet,] I
would request the specific documentation describing any and all Ministry
directives and policy requirements to be met as provided to MOH-funded
service providers with regard to all such staff training given, and any
directions to apply any such potentially detrimental, unsafe and
inappropriate actions to existing contracted services.
It is not clear from the information you have provided with your request
who is giving the advice that you are referring to. The Ministry does not
train support staff or direct them in the way they work - this is the
responsibility of providers. There also seems to be some confusion
between contracted providers and the Needs Assessment Service Coordination
(NASC) organisation which is SupportNet.
To enable the Ministry to try and respond to your request, can you please
provide further information about the advice you believe is being given
and whom that advice is from and to. If you prefer, we can contact you by
phone to gain the clarification we need in order to respond to your
request. Please provide us with a contact phone number if you are happy
for us to arrange contact by phone.
We look forward to receiving your advice clarifying the request.
Kind regards
Zoe Royden
Senior Advisor
Ministerial Services (OIA)
[Ministry of Health request email]
Government Services
Office of the Director-General
Ministry of Health
[1]www.health.govt.nz
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References
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1. file:///tmp/www.health.govt.nz
From: AE Cruikshank
Dear Ministry of Health,
Good day
The directive to independence is being given and promoted as policy by support worker trainers, to the support staff, during training sessions by at least one support service provider.
The information that such a policy exists was given to a client, by a provider administrative staff member, during an annual client review.
This specific request is in response to a conversation with a support reviewer during an annual care review with a client, the client having a care plan, reasonably recently reviewed by SupportNet, not in any way changed in content from the previous one, or altered to cover this policy of independence .
The discussion included comments as to why certain tasks, allocated on the care plan, were not being attended to as regularly or thoroughly, or even at all, as previously and the response from the administrative reviewer was because support workers are being actively trained to encourage clients into independence.
As any further anecdotal information would come from the perspective of a support worker, who is not allowed to discuss such issues with their clients, there is no other reliable method to gain this information.
Thus this request.
● Either the Ministry has put in place policy or guidelines that cover the information requested in this inquiry, or it hasn't.
● If this policy of independence is contained, even obliquely or as unstated intent in the policy or training guidelines issued as any sort of MOH requirement or suggestion, or made available in any form to service providers for inclusion in staff training requirements, or for purposes of administration of service provision then I wish ALL documentation of such policy be provided by the Ministry.
● Such provider activities are in breach of the SupportNet client's provided care activities contract and potentially jeopardising the health and safety of all MOH funded care recipients.
Without such specific guidelines or directives or information from the Ministry, the Health and Disabilities Commissioner's office would have to become involved to investigate who is responsible for any directive to MOH funded support providers that potentially places the safety of all MOH funded support clients at risk in this way.
You may send me a contact number to discuss this further.
Thank your for your response
A Cruikshank
AE Cruikshank
Ministry of Health
Dear A E Cruickshank,
Please see below response to your request for information on 23 April
2018.
Kind regards,
Maria Sykes
Executive Assistant
Disability Support Services
Service Commissioning
Ministry of Health
DDI: 04 816 4340
[1]mailto:[email address]
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