On Tuesday 2 June 2009 PSA Assistant Chief Industrial Officer Gayle Peak together with Senior Industrial Officer Dolly Costello met with Dr Tony Sherbon, Chief Executive, Department of Health and Mr Etienne Scheepers, Executive Director Workforce Development, as part of the regular consultation with the Department of Health.

The following key agenda items were discussed:

SPECIAL LEAVE WITH PAY

The PSA advised that several Departments, including Education and Families and Communities had developed further policies in relation to the 15 days special leave with pay per annum, which are designed to improve access to these provisions.

The Chief Executive indicated that new policies were not being developed at this time, but he would be pleased to receive any formal requests from the PSA in this regard. The PSA indicated that this Special Leave with Pay could be made available for things like, Palliative Care, Partner Leave at the time of the birth of a baby, IVF treatment and Foster Care.

The Chief Executive stated that the agency's approach to requests from employees was to be flexible and as much as possible approve requests for leave to assist people manage their work and life responsibilities.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH CORE BUSINESS REVIEW

A meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday 17 June 2009 between DOH/PSA to report on the review's progress.

ESTABLISHMENT OF SA HEALTH AND MEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

The South Australian Government commissioned a review of Health and Medical research in South Australia. The review which was conducted by Professor John Shine (Director Garvin Institute) and Mr Alan Young (Chair Flinders Foundation) was released in May 2008.

The Shine, Young Review made three key recommendations to address the challenges currently facing the Health and Medical Research sector in South Australia. The recommendations support the strategic directions for Health and Medical Research in order to build the state's research capacity and to attract research funds from State and Commonwealth sources.

The recommendations were to:

• Establish a Health and Medical Research Institute

• House the Health and Medical Research facility in a new flagship research facility

• Build and maintain a Health and Medical Research fund.

A draft bill is currently in the process of being developed. The PSA, as a key stakeholder, will continue to be consulted on the SA Health and Medical Research Institute development.

DESIGN OF NEW NATIONAL REGISTRATION AND ACCREDITATION SCHEME

In 2005 the Australian Government asked the Productivity Commission to undertake a research study into issues impacting on the Health Workforce and to propose solutions to ensure the continued delivery of quality health care over the next 10 years. The report was delivered in January 2006 and recommended that there should be a single National Registration Board for health professionals as well as a single National Accreditation Board for health professionals, education and training to deal with workforce shortages and pressures faced by the health workforce.

In 2008 the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to establish a new national scheme for the registration and accreditation of health practitioners by 1 July 2010. An Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) was signed in March 2008 which sets out the objectives for establishing the National Scheme.

For enquiries, please contact PSA Senior Industrial Officer Dolly Costello on (08) 8205 3244 or email dlc@cpsu.asn.au