Primary objective of the meeting of FHT Directors (representing AFHTO and AOHC members) and MOHLTC’s FHT Unit concerned operating plan submissions and cash flow challenges in first half of next fiscal. Click here for the full report. One topic was staff compensation. AFHTO, together with AOHC and NPAO, is continuing to advocate at political levels on the challenges to recruiting and retaining the staff needed to fulfill government’s commitment to deliver interprofessional primary care. (Click here to see the joint report and recommendations.) Recruitment and retention will also be a key message in AFHTO’s upcoming pre-election work – more on this to come.
- Your help is needed to reinforce this message in your operating plans. Section 5.1 of the submission package asks, “Is there anything else the Family Health Team would like to communicate to the ministry regarding their planned activities for 2014-2015?” If your FHT is facing recruitment and retention challenges, please use this as the opportunity to tell the Ministry about your concerns, and illustrate with specific stories. For example, point out:
- vacancies you have experienced and their impact on the FHT’s ability to deliver care
- better-paid positions that staff members have left to take
- likelihood of losing staff in the next year (e.g. is there recruiting in other sectors in your community that’s threatening to draw staff from the FHT)
- We have gained some traction on this issue, and your reinforcement with real-life illustrations will help. After entering it into your plan, please send a copy of your stories to info@afhto.ca so we can draw from them in our on-going work.
Other topics covered in the full report include:
- Funding for additional QIDS positions and overhead costs for QIDS employers
- Clarification of what the funding priority — “Innovative low cost expansion opportunities” — means
- Restitution of specialist sessional funding
- Guidance for FHTs incorporating Diabetes Education Programs
- Funding, cash flow and audit requirements Health Link leads
- Accountability Reform Initiative
- And more … click to read the full report