When the ACC legislation was passed in 1974 the number of private practitioners increased rapidly with few restrictions to govern them. Michael Lamont as secretary worked desperately hard to bring order into the area, representing the members in negotiations with ACC.
The New Zealand Private Physiotherapists Association has played an important role in New Zealand physiotherapy. When the ACC legislation was passed in 1974 the number of private practitioners increased rapidly with few restrictions to govern them. Michael Lamont as secretary worked desperately hard to bring order into the area, representing the members in negotiations with ACC.
The Association never attempted to provide clinical education as it felt this role was well carried out by the other SIGs. An important aspect of the work of the NZPPA was to negotiate with various agencies including ACC regarding fees. The ACC scheme has had a great influence on private practice in NZ, and will be considered in a separate chapter.
From its beginning until the present the Association has made submissions and maintained contact with funding authorities and government departments.
The role of the Association has changed in recent years. Many of its previous activities are now handled by PNZ and the NZPPA is chiefly engaged in assisting members to cope with the continual changes in the health system, organising contracts and understanding the rapid changes to ACC.
For the ten years prior to 1972 there were loose associations of private practitioners mainly in Auckland and Wellington. At the 1972 PNZ Conference held in Christchurch, 19 members formed the New Zealand Private Physiotherapists Association (NZPPA) appointing Len Ring President and Michael Lamont Secretary. Early negotiations undertaken by the group concerned the Physiotherapy Benefit and the Workers’ Compensation fee.
One of the first issues facing the NZPPA in 1978-79 was the Royal Commission into Chiropractic Services. Private practitioners were additionally levied to finance the very expensive legal representation. Many months were spent preparing and presenting submissions and examining witnesses.
The AGM is held every July, usually with a seminar attached, with Executive meeting six times a year. For many years the Association office was at Michael Lamont’s residence in Auckland. With Michael’s resignation Jenny Stuart became secretary of the NZPPA with the office at her Auckland residence. Jenny (non-physiotherapist) had worked for many years as Michael’s secretary. In 1999 the office moved to Christchurch.
A regular monthly newsletter originally called “Health Comment” was sent to all members starting in 1980. This publication of up to 40 pages included all New Zealand newspaper clippings covering the topics of physiotherapy and chiropractic. The newsletter had a new look and change of name to “Physio Focus - the Professional Issues Forum” in 1996.
There were 285 members by 1986. The policies of the Association were established in a workshop at the 1987 annual seminar. As a result of this meeting the NZPPA gave PNZ financial assistance in the form of a grant when Joy Tedder was appointed Executive Director in 1988 also purchasing two facsimile machines for the use of the NZPPA and PNZ. This was done specifically to increase the profile of physiotherapy and relieve some members of their increasing voluntary workload for the profession. There was a major personnel change on Executive at the 1995 AGM, with Barbara Hetherington and Michael Lamont stepping down, and John Gee resigning as President after 5 years. All had given many years of loyal service, Barbara and Michael both served terms as President. Michael Lamont had been a founding member, on Executive for many years and Secretary for the past 26 years. Barbara had been an Executive member for 18 years.
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