A major part of the work of the MRC was and still is to consider the rules and structure for the Society. They looked at future plans and policies and set in place management procedures to carry them out.
A major part of the work of the MRC was and still is to consider the rules and structure for the Society. They looked at future plans and policies and set in place management procedures to carry them out. There was a massive amount of work to be done on this in 1982. The Committee took some time to get underway, in July 1982 concern was felt about the lack of meetings of the Committee. Erwin Drok and Grace Wilson were asked join the Committee.
Michael Lamont (President) asked for feedback from branches in the letter he sent branches in July 1982. He had asked all groups for information about the present Executive, membership and methods of appointment and the aims of the Committee/sub groups and the methods by which they achieved them. His frustration at the lack of replies was evident in the article. By October 1982 the MRC had produced a report and a letter to go to all members.
At the AGM in February 1983, there was discussion about the Regional Councils. They cost more in time and money for members, but more branch members had become active. The MRC brought a Notice of Intent to the Society to bring a proposal for change to the AGM 1984 to make the Society administratively and economically more viable.
Among the Society objectives for 1983 were -
Two items referred to the setting up of a membership category for senior retired members and a request for branches to standardise their membership application forms. In March 1983 an address by the Minister of Health Hon A.G.Malcolm to the Auckland Private Practitioners Assn. was published in the Journal. In this he notes that physiotherapists no longer have to get letters of referral from Doctors, and pointed out that this could open the physiotherapists up to possible litigation. [1]
Grace Wilson did a great deal of work and wrote a document “A Time to Choose”, which was sent to each member with the Newsletter in the middle of 1983. This document outlined the Society structure previous to the Regional Councils, and the present structure under the Regional Councils. There were some successes from the Regional Councils, because with only ten members needed to start a branch there were now 14 branches, with more grass roots participation. Problems were that the Regional Councils formed a “middle stratum”. They were expensive, did not have enough business, and placed inequable and in some instances unrealistic demands on branch representatives to attend meetings. There was also duplication of effort between the Regional Council and National Office staff. The change proposal was to have a National Executive consisting of National President + five representatives. Members would vote directly by postal ballot. The calibre of the representatives would be crucial to the success of the scheme. Members would vote on it at branch level, and the branch’s delegate would cast branch votes at the 1984 AGM.
In September 1983 MRC worked on two sets of new rules, to be ready for voting either way at the AGM in 1984.
In his Annual Report for 1983 the President Michael Lamont paid tribute to the enormous amount of work done by Grace Wilson. At the AGM in January 1984 the Regional Councils were abolished, and the number on National Executive was increased from 3 to 5. Amendments to the rules were carried, and the term General Secretary was changed to National Secretary. Executive met six times, each time up to ten hours.
In November 1983 the MRC had started updating SIG and branch rules. The Committee also standardised a number of forms. A paper on incorporation was considered in March 1984. By November 1984 a Members Handbook of Rules, Society Structure and Ethical Guidelines was ready and was printed in May 1985.
Since that time there have been no major changes to the structure of the society, showing how effective this restructuring was. Only minor changes have been made.
At the AGM in 1986 the MRC suggested -
As a matter of financial expediency telephone meetings were useful, but could not replace face to face meetings. They were most useful when the members of the Committee already knew each other well. The MRC also looked at its own composition in October 1986, originally it had been a member from each region and the President. Grace Wilson was elected Chairperson in April 1987. In 1986 there were two new Standing Committees - the Public Relations Committee and the Conference Committee. Rules need to be constantly updated, and when in 1987 the MRC revised the rules legal expenses were $5000. Grace Wilson wrote a document “Making the rules simpler”, which was distributed to branches for their opinion. With only 51 replies, they assumed everyone was happy!
Regulations about the postal ballot and election of the National President were placed before the 1987 annual general meting, and distributed to Branches, SIGs and Standing Committee in February 1988.
Also in April 1988 a job description and a job performance evaluation was made for the Executive Director, and in March 1990 it was agreed that Society documents with the term “General Secretary” should be amended to read “Executive Director”.
The sale of membership lists was considered in 1989, and agreed to in 1990. 1992 saw another update of the rules as a result of changes in the health industry and MRC also commented on the strategic planning workshop outcomes in this year. In 1992 the question of altering the rules to allow the Society Charitable Status for the Inland Revenue Department was considered. To achieve this one object of the Society had to be education and a winding up clause was passed in 1993. In November 1992 MRC was invited to comment on the strategic planning workshop outcomes.
The Annual Report for 1993 noted that MRC had had a quiet year, showing how effective the restructuring of the Society in the mid-1980’s had been. A standardised form for branches and SIGs to review their rules was written.
In 1994 there was so little work that the AGM appointed just Grace Wilson to MRC, with the right to co-opt more members if necessary. In February 1995 Grace Wilson was given power to convene a short-life working group to consider the draft Operating and Executive Policies being formulated to carry the Society through to the 21st Century.
In May they came back with these goals
This report came back in May 1995 and the goals were agreed to by Executive. In September 1995 a written report from Grace Wilson was discussed. The Policy statement to be put before the 1996 AGM was discussed.
“Physiotherapists must be accountable to their peers for professional practice, the setting of professional standards and professional development. The supervision of such practice, development and standards must be provided by (an) other physiotherapist(s).
The Annual Report for 1996 stated that the Society’s aim was for an infrastructure to provide fair and democratic representation for all members, good routes of communication for professional support and an ongoing education system. All were reviewed and published in the October 1996 Newsletter.
This Newsletter featured “A message from MRC”, bringing members up to date. It noted that staffing arrangements at National Office were working smoothly. The Committee aimed to provide fairness to all members with voting policies in internal Society politics, and to ensure that representation on other relevant bodies was properly covered. Communications at all levels was of supreme importance, and over the years the grass root activities of meetings had undergone modification. This was partly because of the increasing number of SIGs and their educational programmes. The College also had a coordinating and facilitating role in post qualification programmes. Branches were not only a “political” route for members but a common meeting ground where information from other specialities could be found. The Society’s structure, rules and regulations provided a fair and democratic base for operations and rights of members.
In 1996 “Think Tank” meetings were planned but abandoned because their objectives were met through other routes. Also in October 1997 a Working Party, including representatives from the Ethical Committee and MRC met on 8 November 1997 and made recommendations on ratification/reinstatement of membership as agreed at the 1997 AGM.
In April 1998 MRC considered the Report on the Review of National Office and supported the recommendations.
Grace Wilson’s final remarks were a challenge - “The quality any professional body reaches and maintains is a reflection of the quality of the participation of its members”.
In 1998 Grace Wilson was asked to produce a precis of the role and qualities required by members of the MRC, to be considered when nominations for MRC are put forward at the 1999 AGM.
Another function of the MRC is to consider the rules and constitution of the various Committees and SIGs of the Society. Over the years they have considered the Scholarship Trust Awards, The Fellowship; Committee, Branch Rules and the Special Interest Groups
[1] NZSP May 1983
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