[ozmidwifery] caseload midwifery - payment methods.

[Bowman Family]

Hi Nicole, I have read everyone's reply to your teams concerns. and I don't really know the right answer, however having worked in a caseload arrangement for 2 years on an annualised salary it has not been without hiccups for some of our team. We have had some midwives go way over their hours and another who was always way down.  This can be the result of  just bad luck, eg. when on call overnight some nights one midwife may be called and on another night the on call midwife might not be required. Some women take a lot more time than others and this is difficult to assess on initial allocation to midwives prior booking in. As a caseload midwife you inevitably get very involved with the women and their families and put in 100%.  Because you get to know the women and their families well, you are privvy to any problems or social issues they may have.  You can be involved (often a key player or caseload manager) in assisting women with appropriate referrals etc. This impacts on the hours that are required to care for each individual woman allocated, and our group of midwives is well aware of this reflecting on our time cards. Each midwife also has her own personality and her way in which she works, some are able to streamline their work and appear very efficient, some are also able to come and go without getting caught up with other hospital business.-- Initially this inequality was of no great concern, because we always thought it would change around and everyone have their turn, but it seems that the same people appear to be well over, whilst others struggle to do their allocated hours. About twelve months ago, the concern about hours became a concern to everyone, with some midwives taking time in lieu (like extra holidays) and another midwife who is down in hours is constantly reminded about this and given extra tasks to endeavour to bring her hours up- The problem with this is risk of burn out for having to do extra work to make up the hours and feeling that she is never going to make them up whilst the problem with midwives taking extra time in lieu in the form of weeks holidays is that it can put strain on  the rest of our small team of 5 by having to cover the extra call during their absence. I was not invoved in setting this caseload up and I believe that a model in South Australia was resourced. I have found the caseload  work much more rewarding and can say I love my work..  It is esssential to have a known salary each week to manage your life, your workplace needs to look at what they are putting in place for when these hours become so varied between individual midwives, to prevent it from getting out of hand. The other issue that you need to discuss is the issue of sick leave and how that will be documented as this appeared to be a problem amongst our group, as a result we are now writing our hours down for sick leave as though it were an eight hour shift.   Nicole, good luck with your model and I hope you and your colleagues find the case load an enriching experience. Linda   Original Message ----- From: Nicole Carver To: ozmidwifery@acegraphics.com.au Sent: Thursday, June 29, 2006 9:12 AM Subject: Spam Alert: [ozmidwifery] caseload midwifery   Hi all, I am looking for some information from people working in caseload models. We are about to start work on a caseload model and need info about which method of payment is best. Some seem to think annualised salaries are best, but others think we might get short changed and are keen to see us get paid for what we actually work, getting paid a base rate, with penalties paid in the following fortnight. What has been your experience? Warm regards, Nicole Carver.