YOUR MIDWIFERY BUSINESS

WAYNE ROBERTSON EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MMPO

the critical but less visible importance of the MMPO

Initially formed back in 1997 to support community midwives, the MMPO’s sense of purpose has never wavered over the past 25 years, however its role has most certainly evolved to become much more significant.

What started as a means of providing access to a manual wrap-around clinical and practice management system (which helped with claiming and being paid) has expanded over time, into an electronic platform which now offers a comprehensive service, including the provision of workforce supports, business assistance and much more.

But there is a critical - albeit less visible - advocacy role the MMPO plays behind the scenes, especially now, as the health sector in Aotearoa undergoes significant structural change.

Due to the nature of the MMPO’s services, we take regular opportunities to interact with community midwives providing care across Aotearoa. The chance to talk to midwives and listen in this way allows a better connection to the heartbeat of the workforce, through all its ebbs and flows. With this connection comes a real life understanding of the lived experience of community midwives, which we can combine with data and information, to paint a coherent picture of the state of the workforce and what its needs are.

What helps even further is our close relationship with the College, ensuring that when an opportunity is identified to improve community midwifery supports, we are able to access and add an experienced, expert, professional point of view.

The MMPO has always been well placed to use our understanding to articulate the needs of community midwives and advocate for them with the Ministry of Health - now Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ). Over the past 12 months, this has become noticeably more challenging due to the health system reforms, staff changes within Health NZ, and the ongoing impacts of Covid-19, amongst other things.

Rest assured, every day MMPO staff ensure that your voice is heard. We do not always openly report this work, however, here are eight examples of what the MMPO has been doing over the past 12 months:

• Regularly reminding and reinforcing why community midwifery works well in

Aotearoa, even during times of significant workforce stress, because it is purposedriven, offers choice and working flexibility and is underpinned by autonomy. • Dealing with ongoing Notice 21 direct claiming difficulties and the Christmas payment problems on behalf of all community midwives claiming through the MMPO. In respect of the latter, we had insisted from late November 2021 that the former Ministry of Health clearly communicate the expected timing of claiming and payments during the

Christmas period to community midwives.

Even though the subsequent Ministry communication was too late, the outcome was that future claiming payment terms improved from an average of 7-9 working days, down to three working days for all community midwives countrywide. • Negotiating to widen the scope and extend the locum cover support available in situations where the community midwife is impacted by Covid-19, until 30 June 2023. • Negotiation of specific, focused funding to help with community midwives’ costs of relocation to areas negatively affected by

Covid-19 vaccination mandate.

• Recent and ongoing communication, advocacy, and insistence about the long outstanding delays to Covid-19 care payments and UAC travel adjustments. The

MMPO proposed an alternative payment system early in 2022, which could have been put in place easily and immediately. This was dismissed at the time by the Ministry of Health.

• Seeking better recognition for the increasing workload and care requirements for all locum midwives which has culminated in the new Planning and Handover and

Due to the nature of the MMPO’s services, we take regular opportunities to interact with community midwives providing care across Aotearoa. The chance to talk to midwives and listen in this way allows a better connection to the heartbeat of the workforce, through all its ebbs and flows.

Birth Acknowledgement Fees for each emergency (including Covid-19) locum cover.

• Provision of comprehensive but intimate knowledge to help inform and focus the distribution of limited and fixed funding available in Notice 21 and out of Budget 22. • Working with maternity facilities to provide shift or short-term locum and other local community midwifery supports.

Whilst some community midwives may not directly use any of the services the MMPO currently provides, every community midwife in Aotearoa can receive a benefit because of the way that the MMPO is structured (100% owned by the College), its purpose, and the way it goes about its day-to-day business.

Currently, the MMPO - together with the College - is advocating for community midwives with Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ), to increase existing workforce supports and introduce new initiatives as a matter of priority. This includes access to:

• Increased locum cover days (non-emergency and emergency) for all community midwives in Aotearoa irrespective of their locality setting (urban, rural, or remote). • Funded professional and administrative support for community midwives, to mitigate the effects of stressful working environments.

• Ongoing advocacy for investment in new support systems to enable community midwives to engage in the reformed health system. • Expanded access to funded education for rural midwives.

With the pay equity class action building in the background, looking ahead to the next 12 months I continue to be optimistic that the value of this critical workforce will finally be acknowledged, appreciated, and supported in an equitable way. square

MMPO, the Midwifery and Maternity Providers Organisation provides self employed community midwives with a supportive practice management system.

www.mmpo.org.nz mmpo@mmpo.org.nz 03 377 2485