News from Denmark January 2005
Denmark is in the middle of re-organising the regional structures of the country. The existing 14 counties (Amt) will merge into 5 regions, and the number of city councils (Kommuner) is expected to go down to 1/3 of the current approximately 300.
The regions will still be responsible for hospitals and specialized health care services, whereas the city councils will be responsible for rehabilitation and social services. The reform will come into force as from January 2007, and at the moment huge work is being undertaken in the Parliament and in all the administrative systems.
The Ergoterapeutforeningen is focusing on the effects that the reform will have for our main target groups, and also on the major influence it is going to have on the working conditions of many OTs.
We find it very promising that Primary Health Care and Rehabilitation has now been closely linked up to the city councils, close to the daily lives of the citizens.
2005 is the year of new Labour Market Negotiations. The Ergoterapeutforeningen is a member of the Danish Health Care Confederation (Sundhedskartellet) together with 10 other professional associations. We are working on a new pay scale model for all the health professionals, and have made up long-term goals for better levels of salaries in the health care and social sectors. These are the first negotiations after the introduction of Professional Bachelors Degrees and the 3½ years educational programme in 2001.
The Ergoterapeutforeningen is also going to change our own regional structure, as from the summer of 2005. We are now approximately 6000 members, and at the moment we are organized in a Central Secretariat in Copenhagen together with six regional offices. These regional units have been quite small and expensive to maintain, so the General Assembly decided in November 2004 to merge the six regions into 3. The goal is to be able to run effective and offer high quality member services all over Denmark. The General Assembly also decided to stay at the same membership fee, which is close to 6000 DKr per year. (800 Euros).
The web page www.etf.dk has been fundamentally revised, and we invite you all to have a fresh look. Despite language limitations, we are sure you will find some interesting information and links to relevant sites.