The Australian College of Nursing (ACN) is calling for detail on how states and territories will reform their health systems to unlock their share of the Federal Government’s $60 million commitment to jurisdictions that enable health professionals to work to the top of their scope of practice.
The Federal Government has pledged the payments from the $900 million National Productivity Fund for states and territories that remove barriers to healthcare professionals using their skills where and when they’re needed. The Productivity Commission has estimated the reforms could generate nearly $300 million in annual budget savings and increase GDP by up to $1.2 billion a year.
ACN CEO Adjunct Professor Kathryn Zeitz FACN said there is now a big incentive for states and territories to act on scope of practice.
“They must look specifically at the barriers that are preventing nurses from using all of their skills and expertise in healthcare delivery,” she said.
The Treasurers have cited helping registered nurses to prescribe and administer medicines across jurisdictions in line with their qualifications as one area of reform to be tackled.
“RN prescribing is an excellent start. State and territory health services need support to ensure this new role can thrive to improve access to high-quality, efficiently delivered prescribing across all healthcare settings,” said Adjunct Professor Zeitz.
But registered nurse prescribing is just one piece of a much larger reform effort still outstanding – one that also requires federal funding reform to deliver more productive care.
Federal funding still locks nurse-led care out of the system – nurse practitioner-led clinics still cannot register for MyMedicare or access the practice incentives that flow to GP-owned clinics.
“Australia spends more per person on health than most of the OECD yet still records more avoidable hospital admissions than comparable countries – care that better use of nurses could prevent,” Adjunct Professor Zeitz said. “Health funding reform to let nurses do this work is now critical.”
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