Newly Elected NZCA Council Renews Call For End To Continued Mandates For Chiropractors

The New Zealand Chiropractors’ Association (NZCA) has renewed their call for the government to end COVID-19 mandates for private primary healthcare practices, as the continuing restrictions are unjust and unsubstantiated now that the Omicron variant is at large in the community.

The peak body for chiropractic in New Zealand says that private primary health providers, such as chiropractors, rely on face-to-face consultations and fee-based income to survive. Prolonged restrictions on the delivery of healthcare are critically affecting the viability of many small businesses and leaving thousands of New Zealanders without an option for healthcare in their communities.

The newly elected NZCA President Dr Cassandra Fairest, chiropractor says: `Our members and their patients have suffered unduly from extended restrictions over the past two years with lockdowns significantly preventing access to care. This ongoing situation has become untenable for many. I believe it is wrong to continue to discriminate against private businesses in this way, especially when practitioners are equipped to manage their clients' safety through infection protection and control procedures.’

Dr Fairest, the first female President of the NZCA in its 100 year history, explains: `I have contacted Martin Chadwick (Chief of Allied Health) requesting a review of the Public Health Order mandate for private healthcare providers. Very disappointingly, I received a standard response. I was subsequently heartened to see the Act Party come out in support in the media regarding mandates being removed for

chiropractors. I then wrote to Chris Luxon of the National Party to request he also put his party’s weight behind this. I will continue to lobby these public officials, and request that our members also write to their local representatives until the mandates are removed.

‘To continue to restrict these private community health enterprises from operating and to prevent them from caring for their communities, or from contributing to the productivity of the economy is irrational when hairdressers, beauty therapists, and even sex workers are not under any mandate and they spend longer with their clients, are arguably more intimate, and do not have infection protection controls as stringent as ours as health professionals.’

Chiropractors are regulated primary health care professionals registered under the HPCA Act with close to 700 annual practising certificate holders practising in solo, group, and multidisciplinary clinics around New Zealand. New Zealand chiropractors have significant training (a minimum 5-year tertiary degree) and a broad yet highly skilled scope of practice and clinical expertise. They provide care for the public in a wide range of health concerns, including spinal problems, posture, certain neurological issues and chronic pain. Importantly, particularly with the heightened levels of mental health concerns being seen this year, chiropractors help many people with anxiety, sleeping difficulties and stress related disorders through their ability to assist the nervous system.

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