Community Health Update

Following the vote of VHPA Members at the mass meeting in December 2014, the VHPA has been working furiously with VHIA to finalise drafting of the final document ready for the sector to vote on.  To this end, we have met twice this week and are confident that drafting will be finished very soon.

Drafting is a very important process; it’s vital to ensure all of your new entitlements are written in to the Agreement as clearly as possible.  This minimises possible misinterpretation and makes enforcement easier during the course of the Agreement.  It’s one of those things that you’d like done quickly but you need done properly.

The process once the final draft is finished is that the Agreement will be made available to Health Professionals at each Centre for seven days before the ballot period opens.  When the Agreement is distributed, the ballot process and timeline will also be advised by your Centres.  As Members will be aware, we are advocating for a consistent voting process across all Centres, conducted by an independent, external party however, the Act is silent on any requirement for an Employer to use a particular voting method, so this is not guaranteed.

As previously advised, if you are going to be away from work in the coming weeks, ensure that your HR department has your non-work email so that you don’t miss any of the above.