The Home and Community Health Association (HCHA), representing Home & Community Support providers throughout New Zealand, are gravely concerned that care and support workers jobs throughout New Zealand are being put at risk by ACC not providing an appropriate response to funding during the Covid-19 response.

“I urge ACC Minister Iain Lees-Galloway and ACC Chief Executive Scott Pickering to intervene and ensure care and support workers continue to be paid their guaranteed hours” says Graeme Titcombe, Chief Executive of the Home and Community Health Association.

In recognition of the ‘all of Government response’ to Covid-19, the Ministry of Health and District Health Boards have committed to continue funding the workforce at pre-Covid-19 levels, to ensure the ongoing integrity and sustainability of these essential services within our communities. Despite this, ACC are yet to match this commitment and this lack of action could lead to significant job losses.

This future of this vital workforce, that supports home-based rehabilitation and ongoing support for long term ACC clients, is at threat unless Providers, continue to be both sustainable and stable during the Covid-19 period. Urgent ACC action is imperative, not only for the maintenance of current services, but also for a viable and effective service to be provided to ACC clients in the future.

Maintaining this skilled workforce has been recognised as a priority. The Ministry of Health, District Health Boards and ACC share a common workforce in the delivery of these home-based services. If ACC were not to follow a similar ‘all of Government response’ it severely handicaps the flexibility of the Home and Community Sector workforce in utilising different approaches, as necessary, to deliver services in this time of a national alert. This not only impacts directly on ACC services, but frustrates the benefits that could have been gained by the Ministry and District Health Boards funding approach that was aimed at providing certainty and flexibility to the sector.

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