PRESIDENT S ANNUAL REPORT (ON BEHALF OF EXCO) JULY 2012-JUNE 2013

Transcription

1 Helen Buchanan PRESIDENT S ANNUAL REPORT (ON BEHALF OF EXCO) JULY 2012-JUNE 2013 INTRODUCTION The OTASA EXCO initially fcussed n filling the vacant Exc and standing cmmittee psitins t enable effective peratin in all areas. Wrk cntinued n strengthening and expanding nline administrative systems t prvide a mre efficient service t members. The transfrmatin plan was develped further. OTASA respnded t imprtant ethical issues affecting the emplyment f sme members. Active effrts were made t cntinue recruiting new members This annual reprt fcuses n the wrk dne by Exc in the past year and shuld be read in cnjunctin with the annual reprts frm Branches and Standing Cmmittees. OTASA EXCO MEMBERSHIP Fllwing Lana van Niekerk s resignatin at Cuncil 2012, I tk n the psitin as president with immediate effect. Lana cntinued as an ad-hc Exc member respnsible fr steering the rganising cmmittee fr the WFOT 2018cnference. Nminatins were sent ut fr the vacant vice president psitin which was filled by Elelwani Ramugnd. Fatima Peters served n Exc in the Public service liaisn prtfli until January when she resigned due t a change in her jb; Angela Chetty will attend Exc meetings until the new Natinal OT Frum chairpersn is elected. The rest f the EXCO team has remained unchanged but there has been sme re-shuffling f Exc buddies. The number f face-t-face meetings was decreased ver the last year t reduce csts. Aternate meetings have been cnducted via Skype and these have prved successful. STANDING ORDERS The Standing Orders have been updated but specific sectins will be reviewed at Cuncil. The Standing Orders will cntinue t evlve and shuld thus be reviewed annually at Cuncil.

2 POSITION STATEMENTS Wrk has cntinued n develping psitin statements n Occupatinal Therapy Grups, Occupatinal Therapy in Primary Health Care and Cmmunity-based Rehabilitatin. The cnsensus prcess has prven t be time-cnsuming but this is necessary. We hpe t finalise these statements within the next few mnths. OT OFFICE MATTERS The nline system is in place and membership, wrkshp applicatins and CPD certificates are nw all dne nline. The website is increasingly being used t pst infrmatin t assist members and ffice bearers t access infrmatin. Ranne Muller has taken n the administratr rle fr OTASA Facebk. MEMBERSHIP At the 2011 Cuncil meeting, all branches were challenged t increase their membership by 10%. Strategies t attract new members included increasing OTASA s effectiveness, imprving cmmunicatin with members and nn-members, ffering branches mre supprt t enable them t functin better and dispelling the myths abut OTASA. T encurage OTs in the public health sectr t jin OTASA, a nce-ff jining fee f R was ffered in September Figures fr 2013 reflect 2346 OTASA members f which 177 are students. This is an increase f almst 22% since % f all ccupatinal therapy staff (OTs, OTAs and OTTs) registered with the HPCSA (N=4019) are OTASA members; this is an increase f 14% since Almst all branches have met the gal f a 10% increase and many have exceeded this. TRANSFORMATION PLAN The final draft f the histry and develpment f OTASA is available and will be discussed at Cuncil. Exc acknwledges the wrk dne by Faslen Adams and Tasneem Abrahams in develping this pamphlet. It will be distributed t all OT staff registered with the HPCSA as a strategy fr recruiting new members. STANDING COMMITTEE POSITIONS The vacant standing cmmittee psitins identified at Cuncil 2012 were filled as fllws: Histrian Rse Cruch CPD Standing cmmittee Chairpersn - Antnette Owen Ethics Standing cmmittee Chairpersn - J-celene de Jngh Publicatins Standing cmmittee Crdinatr Tania Buys The handver prcess did nt g as smthly as anticipated and strategies will need t be implemented t ensure smth transitins in future. CODING AND PROCEDURES COMMITTEE Exc has met regularly with Haley Nrval as chair f this cmmittee. The cmmittee has cntinued t wrk actively n matters affecting the cding f, and prcedures related t, OT services. At the invitatin f Discvery Health OT practice guidelines fr specific cnditins were develped. The

3 cmmittee has cntinued t ffer wrkshps n cding as part f the Private Practice mdule ffered by INSTOPP and has wrked clsely with the Cmpensatin Cmmissiner n aspects affecting cmpensatin claims fr injured wrkers. CPD COMMITTEE Members can nw btain the equivalent number f CPD pints fr their membership fees by answering SAJOT and Fcus multiple chice questins (5 may be dne free f charge but a reduced rate is ffered n thers fr members) and receiving reduced fees fr attending branch CPD events. The ver-arching CPD plan presented by EXCO at Cuncil 2012 was handed ver t the new chairpersn. An initiative t develp electrnic CPD activities has been started. This will ffer CPD pprtunities t members living in remte areas. The first activity is a pdcast f the Paeds imbiz held in March 2012 multiple chice questins are being develped fr this. OTASA needs t wrk at making CPD activities mre rural friendly, e.g. can branch members ffer vernight accmmdatin t rural OTs? EDUCATION & RESEARCH COMMITTEE The educatin cmmittee under the chairmanship f Lisa Wegner has been very active. The ccupatinal science and research sub-cmmittees frm part f the educatin cmmittee but als perate separately t wrk n identified areas utlined in their reprts. Obtaining ethics apprval fr research studies dne by clinicians has been prblematic; as OTASA des nt have the infrastructure, expertise r resurces t frm a research ethics cmmittee, clinicians shuld link with academics t btain ethics apprval thrugh universities. A request fr funding a research prject was apprved and OTASA plans t wrk with the Research sub-cmmittee n increasing funding fr research activities and cnsidering a research award. ETHICS STANDING COMMITTEE Exc was invlved in several ethical issues related t the emplyment f OTs. It has been clear that OTs are nt fully appreciative f the HPCSA ethical rules and the implicatins f running a business. Our legal cnsultant has been invlved in advising and cmmunicatins have been sent ut thrugh all-member mailing n several issues related t glbal fees, naming f a practice and ensuring adherence t the ethical rules.

4 HISTORIAN Rse Cruch has suggested prducing a cffee table bk n the histry f OTASA. Exc has agreed in principal. Rse will draw up a prpsal and submit it t Exc with a budget. The bk will be ready fr the WFOT 2018 Cnference. PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE The standing rders fr the psitins f Publicatins crdinatr, SAJOT editr and Fcus editr are being finalised t ensure the respnsibilities fr each psitin are clearly defined. On the recmmendatin f the current editrs, editrs fr the SAJOT and Fcus will be appinted rather than elected in future. These are key psitins and thus the peple hlding them must be cmpetent fr the jb. Electrnic and hard cpies f the SAJOT and Fcus are being prduced and will cntinue fr the next 2 years; an electrnic survey will be dne t gauge member s respnses befre a decisin is made t discntinue hard cpy versins. There is currently a ne-year embarg n SAJOT articles with the idea f using this as a bargaining tl fr entering reciprcal sharing agreements with ther OT jurnals. All ther SAJOT articles are available free f charge via the SAJOT website. Members have access t the fulltext f the last 3 SAJOT issues via the OTASA website. A Memrandum f Agreement has been signed between the New Zealand Jurnal f Occupatinal Therapy (NZJOT) and SAJOT whereby members f the respective assciatins will have access t the jurnals f the ther assciatin. As f next week, the NZJOT will be available via the OTASA website t OTASA members. Negtiatins with ther OT jurnals will be undertaken with the aim f enabling ur members t keep up t date with OT research and develpments in the prfessin glbally. COMMUNICATION WITH SIGNIFICANT STAKEHOLDERS - An OTASA submissin was dne n the Rads Accident Benefit Scheme (RABS) Bill Letters were written as fllws: Dumisani Bumela, the CEO f the Hspital Assciatin f Suth Africa (HASA) stating that the draft dcument n the Minimum Standards fr Psychiatric Services f Excellence set by the Psychiatric Fcus Frum is anti-cmpetitive as it excludes OTs frm the market. OTASA requested that the plicy be withdrawn r changed t make sure that the descriptin is wide enugh. Dr Mjamba-Matshba, the registrar f the HPCSA and cpied t the OT, physi and psychlgy bards requesting clarity regarding scpe f practice and emplyment/ cntracting matters Dr Mjamba-Matshba, the registrar f the HPCSA and cpied t Advcate Bikany (legal advisr f HPCSA) requesting clarity n whether the Department f Educatin is legally allwed t emply OTs as educatinal therapists and the ethical implicatins fr thse wh receive services frm peple wh are nt registered with the HPCSA - Cllabratins with the fllwing are being negtiated: Suth African Disability Alliance (SADA) t becme an assciated rganisatin t ensure we have the disability vice represented RuReSA have frmally accepted OTASAs invitatin t be an assciated rganisatin - An OTASA NHI wrking grup has been frmed under the leadership f Leb Masek - The fllwing meetings were attended:

5 Natinal OT Frum - gave a presentatin abut the transfrmatin agenda with special emphasis n cllabratin with the public sectr and increasing membership f public sectr OT staff Healthcare summit Natinal Actin Netwrk f Suth Africa fr the Bne and Jint Decade OTASA CONFERENCES & AWARDS 2012 OTASA Cnference (Durban) this was a great success. A decisin was made t use any prfit frm the cnference t bring OTs frm ther African cuntries t the next cngress. In future Exc members will attend the OTASA Cnference and the OT Office will have a table t prmte OTASA and enable nn-members t jin OTASA Cnference (Cape Twn) the planning and scientific cmmittees have been frmed and planning is well under way fr this event. The Vna du Tit lecture - based n the utcme f a survey sent ut t all members, it has been decided that this event will take the frm f a special keynte address at the cnference fllwed by a ccktail functin. This will enable mre peple t attend the lecture. Albie Sachs award There was n mney frm the spnsr fr this prize in Negtiatins have resulted in Life Rehab agreeing t cntinue t spnsr the prize as frm WFOT All OT prgrammes have WFOT curriculum apprval. Relevant infrmatin frm WFOT has been sent ut via all-member mailing, e.g. WFOT pht cmpetitin, a call fr research prpsals fr the WHO guidelines n health-related rehabilitatin, and the call fr abstracts fr the WFOT Cngress 2014 (Japan). OTASA members cmpleted the mental health survey. The WFOT theme fr this year s Wrld Occupatinal Therapy Day is Glbal Tuch, Lcal Reach. WFOT guidelines fr writing psitin statements are being used t develp OTASA psitin statements. EXCO gratefully acknwledges the wrk that has been dne ver the past year by the many vlunteers wh have s willingly cmmitted their time and expertise t varius OTASA activities. Every cntributin impacts the verall develpment f OTASA and the ccupatinal therapy prfessin. We are deeply appreciative t each persn wh played a part in supprting the wrk f OTASA thank yu fr yur lyalty, cmmitment and genersity.