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Jan...thanks for this promising news. There
was no form attached for ASIM application.
Cheers,
Tanya
Fleming
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, May 23, 2005 6:05 AM
Subject: [ozmidwifery] PI INSURANCE FOR
MIDWIVES
Hi
ozmidders
Just wanted to let the group know that the Insurance for Midwives
Forum held in Parliament House Canberra 11th May 2005 was a huge success.
Midwives present were able to establish more networks with significant others
who could assist us gain true professional autonomy through personal indemnity
insurance and medicare provider numbers. Midwives without indemnification and
provider numbers are not viewed as professional by Governments or the general
public. Further there has been an inequality of opportunity created through
Federal Government insurance support for obstetricians and general
practitioners providing care for healthy pregnant women. This discrimination
has to be bought to the public's attention so I urge you all to visit your
local Federal MP to make them aware of the Government's discrimination against
midwives. Ask your local member if they would like to visit the midwives at
the insurance meeting when it is held in Parliament House on 15th June. Your
member should be sitting in the house on the 15th. MPs wanting to meet the
uninsured midwives should contact Senator Aden Ridgeway direct for details on
the Committee Room where the meeting is being held.
Those midwives
present at the May meeting included Claire Bunton (Cairns, Qld), the meeting
organiser, and Robyn Thompson (Melbourne Vic), Akhal Khalsa (Sydney NSW),
Sonya Beutel and Anne Bousfield (both from Toowoomba Qld), Helen Sandner
(Bendigo Vic), Angela Pritham and Sally-Ann Brown (both from Wollongong NSW)
and Marie Heath from Goulburn NSW. Unfortunately both Cindy Turner (ACT) and
Donna Evans (Hunter Valley NSW) both had to apologise at the last moment.
Trudie de Keijzer (who had driven from the Blue Mountains) had dinner with us
and then had to drive all the way back to the Blue Mountains when one of her
'ladies in waiting' came into labour. We appreciated these midwives' efforts
to attend the meeting and provide support.
With such short notice and
vast distances to be travelled as well as midwives getting ready to travel to
Brisbane for the ICM, oganising a 'national meeting' was challenging. Those
present realised that the meeting looked like 'an east-coast affair' but all
the 'hands' documents and well wishes from other states that were tabled did a
lot to add a national flavour to the meeting. Thanks to everyone who sent in
their midwife's 'hands' documents as well as the hands from clients and their
families. A huge number of signatures (literally into the thousands) arrived
in time for the meeting and they are still coming in via the post. Although we
were unable to table them inside the Parliament all present at the meeting
voted they be used as a permanent PR display for our planned photo-shoot and
media coverage during the next meeting. The display of 'hands' in now being
constructed into a colorful wall hanging by Robyn Thompson who will bring the
completed display to Canberra on 15th June.
The midwives were indebted
to Senator Aden Ridgeway who organised the Parliament House Committee Room and
the provision of refreshments. Towards the end of the meeting Aden also
introduced us to Senator Lyn Allison who pledged the support of the Democrats
in achieving primary care midwifery services across the country. Mr Justin
Noel volunteered his time to facilitate our meeting and we would never have
achieved so much in the without his amazing grasp of the situation and his
ability to keep us on track. No midwife left the room all day except for
'bathroom breaks' all were so intensely involved. Invaluable feedback from the
research on Medical Indemnity Insurance conducted by Ms FIona Tito-Wheatland
was distributed to the group as were important suggestions on the best way to
get insurance from Mr Leigh Clark from AON Risk Service Australia Limited.
Ingrid McKenzie represented the President of the Maternity Coalition with
great professionalism and her concerns were duly noted by Mr Charles
Maskell-Knight and his assistant Naomi who were representing the Honourable
Tony Abbott, Federal Minister for Health and Aging during the meeting. The
most important achievement of the day in my opinion was the fact that Mr
Charles Maskell-Knight stayed at our meeting for over four hours - and he was
listening! Although Mr Maskell-Knight was unable to provide an official
opinion on the issues we were discussing he did assure us that self-employed
midwives would have to have their own professional indemnity insurance before
they could ever hope for a medicare provider number.
Towards gaining PI
insurance, Dr Barbara Vernon, Executive Officer of the ACMI has pledged to put
aside some of her valuable time to wrie a new submission to Lloyds of London
with ASIM providing IPM input. It seems certain that the only way for
self-employed midwives can hope for PI insurance will be through taking a new
ASIM/College submission to Lloyds of London in person. Mr Leigh Clark reminded
us that he had seen submissions from individual groups that were successful
after similar submissions from insurance brokers had been rejected.
I
would like to remind all who read this that if an ASIM-ACMI insurance
submission is to be successful ASIM must have the numbers to support cover for
self-employed midwives. The same applies to the College submission. If you do
not already belong to the ACMI, please join the College NOW. If your
membership with ASIM has lapsed I have attached an Application Form for you to
download, complete, attach your cheque for $50 and post off to our Membership
Coordinator ASAP. Once you can state that you belong to ASIM and have
established peer review processes and that you belong to the Australian
College of Midwives Inc and are Accredited as an IPM, or working towards
College Accreditation as an IPM, you are on the road towards indemnity
insurance cover.
One last 'ask' here is to please provide me with
details of any RISK MINIMIZATION STRATEGIES (RMS) that you already have in
place in your private practice. I don't need your name, qualifications or
registration details, nor the fact that you provide a unique personalised
service offering continuity of care. I simply want to make a list of the
existing risk minimization strategies common to Australian midwives who
provide birthing services in the domiciliary setting. Examples you could use
would be; College Accreditation, on-going education evidence, written
documentation provided to clients such as your Statement of Service, Pregnant
Woman's Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, written birth plans, as well as
evidence of existing professional support networks,
Demonstrating that
there are RMS in place will be an important part of our insurance submission
so please send me yours (or your ideas of what strategies should be in place)
ASAP. I don't need a lot of detail, just a simple 'tick-a-box' or a 'yes' or
'no' to the list below would be fine to begin with.
ESTABLISHED RISK
MINIMIZATION PRACTICE PROCEDURES
1. CONTINUITY OF MIDWIFERY CARE
Pre-conceptual, throughout pregnancy labour and birth, until end of
puerperium
2. WRITTEN DOCUMENTATION PROVIDED
Statement of Service
provided at initial interview
Pregnant woman’s rights and
responsibilities
Birth plans developed during on-going care
3.
SCREENING PROCESS PLACE FOR HOME BIRTH SUITABILITY
4. EVIDENCE OF A
PARTNERSHIP WITH WOMAN
Personalised birth plans developed throughout
pregnancy
Adverse events leading to medical referral
identified
Preparation of others intending to be present at the birth
5. PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT ABD REFERRAL NETWORK
Local
backup-midwife with similar home birth skills
Local referral networks
(obstetricians, GPs, maternity units)
National peer support network e.g.
membership with ASIM, MIPPS or similar group
6. FORMAL PRACTICE
EVALUATION
Peer review process in place
Client satisfaction feedback
document issued to all clients
7. ACCREDITATION
Formal accreditation
as an IPM with the Australian College of Midwives
Working towards formal
accreditation
8. PERSONAL INDEMNIFICATION STATEMENT (similar to
below)
"I will perform to the best of my professional ability but need
you to know that due to a temporary loss of professional support services I am
no longer covered for malpractice and I cannot accept liability for any
untoward outcomes beyond my control. If at any time you are dissatisfied with
the care you receive and/or the manner in which you are treated, I urge you to
speak directly with me. If this approach is still not satisfactory to you I
invite you to contact the NSW Nurses and Midwives Registration Board, Level 2,
28-36 Foveaux Sttreet Surry Hills or the Health Care Complaints Commission,
Level 13, 323 Castlereagh Street Sydney.” PLEASE PUT YOURS IN HERE
I
would appreciate any additional RMSs you have in place sent to me as well.
If we ALL get behind a new submission the rocky road towards PI insurance
will become a lot smoother. I am looking forward to seeing some really
innovative strategies to include in our self-employed midwives' list of
RMS.
Outcomes from both the May and June insurance meeting will be
documented in time to be taken to the ICM in Brisbane in July. We hope for
further discussion about PI insurance at the Congress venue. Australian
midwives wanting to establish private practices and any of the independently
practising midwives from the UK and elsewhere will be invited to attend a
meeting to this effect. Information as to the time and place of the Brisbane
meeting will be distributed beforehand.
In the meantime please don't
stop writing letters to your State/Territory Department of Health about
getting some insurance support. We now know that the Victorian Health
Department has been supporting rural GPs with their PI insurance through the
Treasury Funded VMI Agency. Arrange a meeting with your Minister for Health to
tell her/him MIDWIVES WANT INSURANCE ASSISTANCE TOO. Trying to entice GPs to
continue practising obstetrics in rural communities is not in the best
interests of healthy pregnant women. I'm sure you all have plenty of arguments
for supporting rural midwives who provide primary care, especially to
aboriginal women - start getting them incorporated into a letter
now!
Yours in continuity of care
Jan
PS. At this point in
time, the words I want to see included in our national political statement are
........
"FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WORKING WITH PRIVATE RESOURCES TO
ESTABLISH PRIMARY MIDWIFERY CARE FOR AUSTRALIAN
WOMEN"
Please put
up the words YOU would like to hear on this chat line and/or send them
directly to the convenor of the Insurance Meetings, Claire Bunton
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Thanks
Jan
Jan
Robinson Independent Midwife Practitioner
National Coordinator Australian
Society of Independent Midwives
8 Robin Crescent South Hurstville NSW 2221
Phone/Fax: 02 9546 4350
e-mail address: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
website: www.midwiferyeducation.com.au
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