ARC motions 2007/2
Please use the links below to view the content by section:
Employment
- This Conference is very concerned about Gordon Brown’s comments back in June about encouraging local and regional pay in the public sector. This runs contrary to the principle of AfC and equal pay for work of equal value. It will also introduce significant inefficiencies into the NHS by replacing unified national bargaining arrangements with hundreds of local negotiations.
Conference calls on the CSP to actively campaign with the TUC and other health organisations against regional pay in the NHS.
Physiotherapy is a national workforce and local pay introduces unnecessary variations in pay rates. Local pay bargaining will be an additional drain on resources of both time and money at a time when the NHS can ill afford it.
Whilst we acknowledge the difficulties of working in high cost areas of the UK, solutions are wider than pay. These issues need to be addressed nationally rather than going down the dead alley of local and regional pay. National Group Of Regional Stewards
- Conference calls on the CSP to negotiate with the other Public Sector Unions for either Trade Union recognition, or an associated membership of an alternative Trade Union (as has been negotiated for CSP members working in education) for CSP members employed by Social Services.
Conference notes that physiotherapists and physiotherapy assistants employed by Social Services, currently have minimal access to Trade Union support as the CSP has no recognition with Social Services as an employing organisation. In the current NHS financial climate, and as a result of initiatives such as Commissioning a Patient Led NHS, more and more CSP members could find themselves still working within the public sector, but outside the NHS. Gaining Trade Union recognition outside of the NHS would go some way to making these members less vulnerable. North London Stewards
- In light of the Government agenda of plurality of providers and practice based commissioning, Conference requests that the CSP considers alternatives to traditional NHS employers and works to support physiotherapy staff in developing alternative employment models to meet the modern agenda.
The White Paper “Your health your care your say” makes clear the need to improve choice and ensuring plurality of providers to allow this. With PBC physiotherapists need to be in a strong position to communicate and tender to meet local need. This may not always be achieved through traditional NHS routes and the CSP need to assist their members regardless of how or by whom they are employed. Association Of Physiotherapists In Management
- In the present political climate health and safety issues are continually being undermined leading to increased stress in the workforce. We are aware of the Health and Safety Executive work with NHS employers to pilot management standards on stress. We call upon the CSP to direct adequate resources towards:
- a proper assessment of stress across the membership, and
- to encourage employers to conduct risk assessments and implement the Health and Safety Executive Management Standards.
We are aware that there is work underway with the HSE Management Standards on Stress. However, due to pressures on resources, employers are either now focusing on, or are ignoring Health and Safety Standards to the detriment of our members’ health and wellbeing. National Group Of Regional Safety Representatives
Equal Opportunities
- Conference urges Council to survey the membership, to identify how many are affected by dyslexia and to ascertain from them how the Society can best meet their needs.
Ten per cent of the population have some form of dyslexia, and in 4% this is severe. Therefore, several thousand CSP members may be affected. Although dyslexia comes under ‘diversity’ in the Society, it is not to our knowledge included within one of the networks. Difficulties with organisation, time keeping and documentation are just a few examples of how dyslexia might adversely affect a Chartered Physiotherapist in their workplace. If the CSP knew how many members were affected, and canvassed their views, then it would be better equipped to address their needs.Association Of Chartered Physiotherapists In Women’s Health
- Conference fears that reasonable adjustments and access provisions granted to members with disabilities to help them do their jobs sometimes highlights a lack of understanding amongst colleagues. Conference calls upon the CSP to:
- facilitate stewards, safety representatives and managers in their duty to encourage more positive attitudes by making available information explaining reasonable adjustments and how these are applied within physiotherapy services;
- promote this information widely as a resource for workplace awareness raising sessions.
Changes to the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 require public authorities to fulfil a new Disability Equality Duty promoting equality of opportunity for disabled people. In addition, changes to conditions protected under the Arc also mean a greatly increased number of people are covered by the legislation. Reasonable adjustments, crucial in achieving disability equality, are often simple to make and funding available to recoup most of the cost. Better awareness of this amongst members could help prevent discrimination at work and enhance patient care. Disabled Members’ Network
- Conference is concerned that transgender individuals are often discriminated against within healthcare and physiotherapy services, through ignorance rather than design. Conference therefore asks Council to:
- produce a briefing paper supporting departments to produce policies for transgender patients that follow best practice and respect the rights and dignity of these patients
- promote best practice for the treatment of transgender patients to the profession
- continue to support the diversity networks within the CSP to give advice and support to members on issues affecting patients from minority groups.
Although new regulations will soon protect lesbians, gays and bisexuals from discrimination when accessing goods and services, the law does not yet extend this right on grounds of gender identity or gender reassignment. Within society there is a growing understanding and accpetance of lesbian, gay and bisexual people yet attitudes towards transgender people often remain ill informed and insensitive. Where these attitudes persist amongst healthcare staff, the quality of transgender peoples’ treatment may suffer as a consequence. For example, within hydrotherapy sessions, departments rarely have a policy supporting members and transgender patients to ensure that dignity and respect is protected. LGBT Network Group
Annual Representative Conference
- Conference notes that currently CSP students are allocted only 5% of the total number of ARC places, which are currently 15 places. This is despite the fact that students make up over 16% of the total CSP membership.
The CSP ARC constitution states that the ARC Agenda Committee must review the number of voting representatives at least every two years.
Conference therefore calls upon the ARC Agenda Committee to not only re-examine the number of voting representatives but also the way in which the delegate places are allocated to ensure a proportionate and fair representation for CSP student members.
The student allocation for ARC has not changed for over ten years. However in that time the numbers of CSP student members have steadily increased. CSP student members are one of the only groups who have always filled their entire quota of delegate position for ARC. Therefore in the spirit of equality for all CSP members, the ARC Agenda Committee should look again at how ARC delegate places are allocated. Student Excecutive Committee
Health Professions Council
- This Conference requests that the CSP lobbies the Health Professions Council (HPC) to change the procedure relating to complaints against CSP members. Such complaints against our members must not be made public until all formal HPC proceedings have been concluded.
Any complaint to the HPC referred for investigation is posted by the HPC on their public website with the name of the therapist prior to this investigation, which could take several months, before being heard. This has potentially devastating professional and financial consequences for the physiotherapist.
We believe that under The Human Rights Act, both clinicians and complainant should be treated equally fairly. We do not consider that the present HPC complaints procedure affords this to the physiotherapist and would move to have this procedure altered by the HPC. Clinical Interest Groups Liason Committee
- We are concerned that a complaint can be taken to the Health Professions Council (HPC) beyond the seven years that members are required to keep records on their adult clients’ treatment. This Conference urges the CSP to lobby that the HPC does not investigate complaints beyond the statutory time that clinicians are required to keep records of their adult clients.
One of our members was called to defend an alleged misconduct case brought by the HPC in 2003, which had taken place in 1992. The hearings took place in November 2005 and February 2006. The member had only her memory and her witnesses’ memory to use as her defence. This means that the member was unable to fully defend the case because the documents to support her defence had been destroyed under the seven year rule. Surely there must be a cut off time beyond which cases cannot be taken up against a member by the HPC. Association Of Chartered Physiotherapists In Reflex Therapy
CSP Policy
- The CSP has more than 1,400 people paying the retired subscription and should make use of the expertise and experience to be found within its retired membership. Suggestions have included everything from mentoring fledgling researchers and careers talks to obtaining seats on Trust boards and stewarding at CSP functions. Council is asked to investigate how best retired members could help and put in place a systematic method to make use of this free, and currently wasted, resource. Many members want to contribute to the Society that has supported them during their working life.
Many retired members would still like to be useful. At present, they feel that the Society forgets about them as soon as they retire. Their activities are many and varied and often related directly or indirectly to physiotherapy. Some could, for example, provide information on their work in health-care governance and on voluntary bodies. There is no mechanism within the CSP for harnessing this goodwill. It could benefit the CSP and retired members, by providing continuing links and making use of a pool of cost-effective expertise and experience. It may encourage people not to resign membership altogether when they retire. CSP Retirement Association
Common debate of motions 39, 40, 41
- This Conference notes that the members’ subscriptions have risen by over 55% in the last seven years and that the number of CSP members has also risen during this time, yet the CSP is in financial difficulty.
This Conference demands more affirmative action from the CSP on cost saving to ensure that members’ subscriptions go to member services and are targeted at the whole membership. This should include information on the cost effectiveness of the CSP headquarters, Frontline, Journal and all member services. Further rises in subscriptions may result in the CSP pricing itself out of the market.
Members’ subscriptions make up a large proportion of the CSP’s annual income. The members who are paying these subs need to know that member services are prioritised and protected, and that they are cost-effective. Welsh Stewards
- This Conference believes that it is time for the CSP to move its premises out of London to help to resolve the financial pressures. The CSP needs to demonstrate openly and transparently why the London base is more cost effective than the alternative of lower cost regions.
The CSP is based in a high cost area of the UK. There would be considerable savings should the CSP decide to relocate to a lower cost area. The sale of Bedford Row would relieve the CSP of its current financial position. Welsh Stewards
- This Conference is concerned about the CSP’s financial position and calls on the CSP to reduce Frontline publication to monthly in order to save money.
Due to the CSP’s recent financial problems and the decrease in job adverts in Frontline, a suggestion to reduce Frontline to monthly in order to save money has been put forward. South East Coastal Stewards
- We call upon the CSP to consider providing members with the option not to receive Frontline magazine with appropriate reduction in the membership fee.
Many physiotherapists have partners who are also physiotherapists who receive two copies of Frontline and Physiotherapy Magazine per house. This is a waste of paper and also funds.
This has implications for the environment also – waste of paper, waste disposal, etc.
It could also save the CSP money on postage. South West North Stewards
- This Conference notes that CSP delegates are often excluded from debates and have to abstain from the voting during the debates on social issues at the various TUC Conferences. This is because the CSP does not have a policy on the social issues being debated. This is unacceptable, and this Conference believes that the CSP should have a structure in place which allows a CSP delegation at a TUC conference to agree how to vote when such a social issue arises. This would then allow the full participation of the CSP delegation at Conference.
The CSP needs to establish a route whereby its social policy can be agreed, in particular at the external conferences which are attended by CSP delegates. Welsh Stewards
- This Conference calls on the CSP to ban smoking in all public places for all members who represent the CSP in an official capacity at events locally or nationally.
This motion goes one step further regarding the CSP’s support of a smoking ban in public areas. Members who represent the CSP officially should be banned from smoking while carrying out or attending official events/business, ie. when they wear the CSP name badge. We are a health profession involved in health promotion. We should do as we encourage others to do. The RCN has already gone down this route and it should apply to our members as well. Mersey, Cheshire and Isle of Man Stewards
This text on this page was last updated on 8 Jan 2007.
