There are early signs of pushback as the government probes changes that would give pharmacists, nurses and others greater authority to prescribe medicines or make referrals.
Doctors fear Australia could follow the path of the United Kingdom’s struggling health system as the federal government probes changes that would give pharmacists, nurses and other health professionals more authority to prescribe medicines or refer patients to specialists.so that non-medical health workers – which also include midwives, physiotherapists and paramedics – can do more in a primary care system that relies heavily on general practitioners.
“And it has been frankly disastrous, with worse health outcomes, unhappy patients, and GPs fleeing – the number of UK-trained doctors in Australia increased a staggering 67 per cent from 2013 to 2021.” “The for example is in a state of critical workforce shortage with extensive backlogs. The United Kingdom has 3.2 doctors per 1000 people. Australia still sits above the OECD average at four doctors per 1000 people. The AMA is not arguing that we are not experiencing workforce pressures, but when looking to the NHS for models of care we must contextualise appropriately.”
It also suggested there be Medicare subsidies for professionals other than doctors to refer patients to specialists, to address a “widely discussed gap in the primary health care system and overreliance on GPs to manage all referrals”.Credit:The Royal Australian College of GPs reacted strongly to both suggestions and said the review was treating general practice as a problem or barrier, rather than a solution or protection for the health system.
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