Dadpole
8th December 2009, 19:28
Allies from National heartland perhaps?
From the Gisborne Herald http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/article/?id=14929
‘Rurual clients suffer if travel payments cut’
Up to 400 rural clients might lose their homecare support as a result of ACC’s decision to slash travel payments for homecare workers from yesterday.
“This is a blatant attack by ACC on the rural sector and flies in the face of everything the National Party has ever stood for in terms of home care,” says Rural Women New Zealand executive officer, Noeline Holt.
Rural Women New Zealand has had a long involvement in the sector, providing homecare services to rural and urban clients through its company Access Homehealth Limited.
The cuts will mean ACC will no longer cover the costs of the first 20 kilometres travelled by homecare workers to visit their clients.
“This is cynical cost cutting by ACC which leaves homecare companies between a rock and a hard place,” says Ms Holt.
“The cuts would reduce support worker wages and travel reimbursement by up to 17 percent. However, as providers cannot reduce employment terms and conditions for existing workers, the homecare companies will be forced to withdraw services from existing clients or face unsustainable losses.”
Agricultural workers feature particularly highly in workforce accident statistics due to the physical nature of their work. However, homecare companies are unlikely to take on new rural referrals where distance is a factor.
“It is an equality of access issue, with rural being an easy target once again,” says Ms Holt. “This short-sighted cost cutting measure is likely to lead to longer, more expensive hospital stays as it will be impossible for some people to go home after an accident without homecare support.”
And stranger still, a reply from ACC http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/article/?id=14998
Clarification of ACC rural travel system
Your paper recently reported claims that rural clients of ACC will be disadvantaged by a new travel payment system for homecare workers. But people in isolated areas are unlikely to be affected, as mileage over a 20km daily total is reimbursed at a more than competitive rate. As well, homecare workers continue to earn half their hourly rate when travelling after the first 20 km, putting them in the relatively small group of people who are paid to get to and from work. To give an example: a homecare worker has a client in a rural area 50km away, a round trip of 100km. ACC will pay an allowance of 62c a kilometre for 80km of the trip. Assuming it takes an hour to complete the trip, ACC will also pay for half-an-hour of the homecare worker’s time. We value them and the job they do, and believe this is fair recompense for their travel. We do not accept that rural clients will be disadvantaged.
Gail Kettle, General Manager, ACC.
The sight of ACC cutting services in the rural sector must be a worry for Nat backbenchers. Oh dear, how sad, never mind.
From the Gisborne Herald http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/article/?id=14929
‘Rurual clients suffer if travel payments cut’
Up to 400 rural clients might lose their homecare support as a result of ACC’s decision to slash travel payments for homecare workers from yesterday.
“This is a blatant attack by ACC on the rural sector and flies in the face of everything the National Party has ever stood for in terms of home care,” says Rural Women New Zealand executive officer, Noeline Holt.
Rural Women New Zealand has had a long involvement in the sector, providing homecare services to rural and urban clients through its company Access Homehealth Limited.
The cuts will mean ACC will no longer cover the costs of the first 20 kilometres travelled by homecare workers to visit their clients.
“This is cynical cost cutting by ACC which leaves homecare companies between a rock and a hard place,” says Ms Holt.
“The cuts would reduce support worker wages and travel reimbursement by up to 17 percent. However, as providers cannot reduce employment terms and conditions for existing workers, the homecare companies will be forced to withdraw services from existing clients or face unsustainable losses.”
Agricultural workers feature particularly highly in workforce accident statistics due to the physical nature of their work. However, homecare companies are unlikely to take on new rural referrals where distance is a factor.
“It is an equality of access issue, with rural being an easy target once again,” says Ms Holt. “This short-sighted cost cutting measure is likely to lead to longer, more expensive hospital stays as it will be impossible for some people to go home after an accident without homecare support.”
And stranger still, a reply from ACC http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/article/?id=14998
Clarification of ACC rural travel system
Your paper recently reported claims that rural clients of ACC will be disadvantaged by a new travel payment system for homecare workers. But people in isolated areas are unlikely to be affected, as mileage over a 20km daily total is reimbursed at a more than competitive rate. As well, homecare workers continue to earn half their hourly rate when travelling after the first 20 km, putting them in the relatively small group of people who are paid to get to and from work. To give an example: a homecare worker has a client in a rural area 50km away, a round trip of 100km. ACC will pay an allowance of 62c a kilometre for 80km of the trip. Assuming it takes an hour to complete the trip, ACC will also pay for half-an-hour of the homecare worker’s time. We value them and the job they do, and believe this is fair recompense for their travel. We do not accept that rural clients will be disadvantaged.
Gail Kettle, General Manager, ACC.
The sight of ACC cutting services in the rural sector must be a worry for Nat backbenchers. Oh dear, how sad, never mind.