NZSTA Area Meeting Minutes- Collated
Winter 2015
Number of Members Present at Meetings:
Canterbury/Westland- 24
Wellington/Nelson/Blenheim- 21
Otago/Southland- 14
BoP/Waikato-9
Central- 26
Auckland- 42
Non-Members Present
Auckland- 2
Awareness Week September 13-20
This year’s theme is: Access for All: Communication and Swallowing are Life Essentials
There will not be an iPad prize this year as we are going to create an SLT ambassador prize annually around awareness and promotion of the profession.
Start putting your thinking caps on about what you will do to promote Awareness week in 2015.Let us know what you are doing on social media as well – tweet @NZSTA and use the hashtag #SLTAwarenessweekAwareness week resources will be available from the office one month prior to the week. Please email with your requests
Canterbury/Westland:Awareness week posters and postcards will be distributed mid August, you can request them from NZSTA admin or collect them from area reps.Idea from members: Talking Trouble (article in Winter CM) see if there is anything we can do at this level to promote, something good to look at for awareness week?
Otago/Southland:Otago-Southland area representatives are planning a social get-together on the Friday of Awareness week to celebrate. No confirmed events/activities as of yet from the MOE or health SLTs. Several Otago-Southland area members are going to be out of the country during SLT Awareness week this year.
Auckland: Fern = Thoughts around using a slogan such as “I am an SLT and … “/ “I am an SLT because …” to raise awareness of the profession. For those who would like to be involved, send photos/video clips which Jessamy can collate and gather together in one area of Auckland to promote the awareness week. Also ? Raising public profile via the media.
Discussions around how do we have a bigger voice and discuss with colleagues what we do. Often teachers don’t know what SLTs do (research). This has implications for referrals and getting help for the children they work with when necessary. Implications for higher levels – government, NGOs, making a better service and impact for clients. Fern = how can we do more to promote the awareness of our profession? Our title is problematic for therapists who work predominantly in dysphagia, universal problem. Would be good to have a public person, someone visible to raise awareness for awareness week.
CLAD e-learning modules
There are now Two modules available that can be accessed via the NZSTA website. The current courses available are: Oesophageal Screening for the SLT and Speech Acoustics and Auditory Learning. Both modules cost $86.25 for members and require approximately 3 hours to complete. You have access to the module for four months from enrolment and you can log in and out as many times as you wish within that time period.
We would welcome feedback from members who have taken up these opportunities.
Canterbury/Westland:No one present had tried a module yet.
Wellington/Nelson/Blenheim: One question is it the oesophageal screening PD the same as one that was run last year in person?
Rachel Patrick – The speech acoustics and auditory learning one is great! The videos and clips are great and helpful.
Otago/Southland:Question raised - how long will the modules be available online for? Members felt it would be great to have some notification as to when a new module is coming up so that they can start planning for it.
Response from EC: There is no set timeframe, but ifany of the modules are due to be either updated or removed the membership will be notified in advance.
Auckland: Therapists were encouraged to also put forward if they would like to write a module for members to access.
Return to Practice and New Graduate Frameworks
These frameworks were launched at the AGM on June 11th. They are now available on the website ready for reading and downloading. We understand that you will require time to read and digest these documents before you are ready to ask questions.
Please discuss and bring up any queries you have at this time. Our aim is to also provide more discussion during the Spring meetings once people have had a chance to read the documents thoroughly.
Specific queries can be sent to Jodi White
Canterbury/Westland:Documents were available for members to read at the meeting. Members generally thought the new documents look good. Great to have a flow chart for procedures and what to do about complaints.
A member had a question regarding how you would complete the framework if you were doing contract work at different locations/organizations. Members thought employers will generally be supporting it. External supervision as an option was mentioned (a supervisor from one place of work). There is an existing supervision framework at DHB, NZSTA framework will be able to be used as part of that.
Wellington/Nelson/Blenheim: Shirley James – 1. When is it effective from. 2. If the person is being externally supervised what are the responsibilities of the organisation/line management around this?
Response from EC
1. We are expecting all members to use the new frameworks from next year, so new graduates this year can use the old system unless they really want to try and get underway with the new framework straight away.
2. As long as the person doing the supervision is a full NZSTA member and is going to do all the sign off etc there isn't really anything that the organisation needs to do
Otago/Southland:Question raised - when does the new graduate framework come into effect? I.e. are new graduates currently in their first year of work expected to work through the competency framework?
BoP/Waikato: Karen Warn: Specific hours of supervision in New Graduate programme previously vague. For unfunded membership, supervising new graduates takes many hours for supervisors.
Central: Sarah Martin – queried whether these were still in draft format. Since finalised felt they are good for managers to have a look over for recruitment due. AS currently recruiting new graduates it is good to see what support they have/will need. Jodi White confirmed they are no longer in draft format and the finalised forms are on the website
Auckland: Discussion around frameworks:
New Graduate: Supervision needs to come from a full member. Discussion re MRA and therapists who aren’t dysphagia trained – can you still be recognised under the MRA in that case? A lot more explicit now there are clear guidelines around what is expected of new grads, the document has a great structure. Supervision time and extra cost to employers is something that everyone needs to be aware of. Overall feedback from emails (Fern) has been positive.
Return to Practice = similar to compass, ? condescending for those returning to the profession? Timeframes = what is the rationale behind that? You need more credits depending on how long you have been away for. Document made as a preparation for one day membership being mandatory (?) Philippa = more of a safety guideline for integrity of our profession and keeping clients safe. Discussion re: different SLT roles depending on job/context and even with that we need to keep up with current practice outside of our immediate roles. E portfolios are a good medium to keep competencies up to date = easier to find evidence, reference etc. If anyone has a template to share this good be a good step forward as a profession.
Bridget Oliver:
I wanted to let you know that I have reviewed the New Graduate Framework and think it forms an excellent guide for new grads, and supervisors too. It is often a difficult transition from university, where performance and competence is measured quite closely via Compass, to a busy working environment. I really like the continuation of the Compass framework.
Meryl Bowen: New graduate membership. This seems a very comprehensive document and process. It is always a challenge to get the balance between workplace pressures and meeting professional standards - in theory these are integrated requirements but management influences this greatly. I think education for supervisors and managers around a framework like this is important so that time allocation for meeting professional requirements are provided e.g. similar to a beginning teacher programme. I know in the Ministry of education roles this used to be the case but I am unsure of the current situation and of whether this.is recommended to other settings.
Dervla I have had a chance to have a quick look at the New Graduate Framework. I think in theory it's a good idea - I find it helpful to have some more structure to support BT learning. My only comment or query would be what it's like to complete - and you might need some BT perspectives on this, as it does seem like there might be quite a lot of work. I guess in an ideal world we could have some type of online system - whereby supervisor and supervisee have a login and keep track of notes and discussions. Hope that's helpful.
Anonymous I would like to give a bit of feedback on the graduate framework. I think it is a great document that provides a lot of guidance to employers/supervisors and NGs about what is expected within the workplace when they start out. I think the structure will improve consistency of the NG experience across work settings which is a good thing.
There is obviously a cost to an employer when taking on a NG that I think isn’t often talked about. The formal supervision time (for both supervisor and NG) is just part of it, but NGs operate at a reduced capacity and need a lot of extra informal support from other team members. This is a cost that teams and organisations tend to absorb and in small teams particularly it can have a significant impact. I wonder if there could there be some way of quantifying this cost with a view to employers being able to ‘outsource’ it to an external therapist i.e. purchase a NG supervision package at an agreed cost.
Just an idea. It’s probably something that could happen already if people had the time to organise it, but if this option was built-in or costs identified by the NZSTA and maybe the process of outsourcing facilitated by the NZSTA, I’m sure it would appeal to smaller employers and maybe make them more prepared/able to take on a new grad.
Maryanne:I think the Return to Practice framework looks good, I think it’s also good that there is a clear appeals process.
It would be good to have a bit more info around the time frames identified eg 3yrs, 5yrs, 12yrs, and why these particular ones.
Supervision
We now have a number of SLT’s on the contact list available to be contacted regarding providing external supervision. Please continue to contact Jodi White at if you would like to be added to this list.
Otago/Southland: Members thought this was a really good idea.
BoP/Waikato:Clarification was made that we are not able to be supervised by non-members.
NZSTA Principles and Rules of Ethics
Canterbury/Westland:The document was available for members to read at the meeting. Once again members thought it looked good.
Wellington/Nelson/Blenheim:What is the Australian competency document? Do we have access?
Central:Query around whether there is a document showing what changes were made based on the feedback received in the draft phase. Or how the feedback was incorporated
Auckland:Victoria MardellI think it’s great that there’s a clear pathway, both for SLTs, and for people making complaints. I have a query about part of the pathway: It’s about the box ‘Is the complaint about the member’s breach of the NZSTA’s Principles and Rules of Ethics?’How is this ascertained? Are complaints generally screened and if a person makes a complaint, will someone from NZSTA meet with/call them to discuss the principles and rules of ethics? Or will the complainant be sent a copy of the Principles & Ethics? I could see potential difficulties arising if the complainant is merely sent a copy of the Principles & Ethics and this is a large document and could be prohibiting to taking the complaint further, especially if the complainant had difficulty with literacy or if English was a second language.
Are complaints screened? How will the complainant be notified of the ethics document? (heavy file, ? language barriers etc). ? roles and responsibilities re: dysphagia, between health SLTs and school SLTs. Up to school therapists to maintain their knowledge and be active in upskilling, work alongside DHB SLTs as much as possible. Concerns around liability is something goes wrong from a school feeding plan for example.
Response from EC: Thanks for the feedback, all of the issues raised are addressed within the Principles and Rules of Ethics document.
Every complaint is reviewed on an individual basis and will be considered according to need and scope of practice.
Depending on the environment in which the complaint has arisen the requirements of the location will need to be taken into account also such as school policies.
Executive Council
We are pleased to welcome our new Executive Council members:
Anna Miles – Professional Standards
Claire Winward – Professional Development
We would also like to welcome Philippa Friary to the role of President of NZSTA and wish her all the best in her new role.Additionally we would like to thank Helen McLauchlan who has now stood down from her role as President. We appreciate all the hard work and dedication she has shown to the profession and wish her all the best for the future.
We also thank Brigid McNeil for her contribution in Professional Standards portfolio over the past 2 year.
The current Executive Council is:
Philippa Friary – President
Anna Miles – Professional Standards
Claire Winward – Professional Development
Annette Rotherham – Communications
Karen Brewer – Maori and Cultural Development
Jodi White – Member Networks
2015 NZSTA Professional Development Symposium
Thank you to everyone who was involved. The calibre of presentations was very impressive. Feedback will be collated and used when planning the 2017 symposium. AGM minutes will be available on the website soon.
Canterbury/Westland:Members that attended reported the conference was really good. Well organised, really well done and full of practical ideas that clinicians could take away and integrate into their work straight away.
Otago/Southland: Members expressed an interest in videorecorded presentations at the next symposium/conference
Auckland: Feedback from Jessamy Christchurch NZSTA symposium. Good discussion around cultural safety and cultural supervision. More development going on with NZSTA.
‘Twentytwenty’ – The New NZSTA Strategic Plan
This isyour time to contribute to the direction of the Association. We are about to start writing the new Strategic Plan 2016-2020. What are the five top objectives you would like to see in this plan?
Canterbury/Westland:
-Registration/self-regulation options- Self regulation may be a good medium point (reported by Annette as something the Exec have been looking into)
-Marketing programme- what do we want to raise awareness about? Budget into some form of campaign (reported by Annette as something the Exec have been looking into)
-More educational therapists into the Association: this is an ongoing issue, more have joined up but many more out there, this could be helped by self-regulation
-Cultural Competence: increasing all therapists cultural competence
-Look at possibilities/challenges for the future workforce: possibly more health assistants working with SLTs, NZSTAs involvement with DHBs, how do we have assistants aligning themselves with SLT? (Often OT or Physio currently), supervision for assistants what does the NZSTA want to see that involve? Will NZSTA support clinical staff to support assistants?
Wellington/Nelson/Blenheim:
-Shirley James: The Health leaders group has just made its own strategic plan it would be good if these matched up
-Registered body
-More working in partnership with other professions. This is something we are already good at but would be good to see what we could do with them. ACC, health and education are wanting to work together, We should jump on that band wagon.
Otago/Southland:
-Registration
- All members acknowledge that this has been on all previous strategic plans but there has been no progress. We think that increasing the overall professionalism and presence of the association is very important.
- Some members believe that registration is still important, especially to streamline our profession and monitor the calibre of the therapists.
- Are there any other options here? I.e. becoming a self-regulatory body
-More value/benefit