During the COVID pandemic, allied health staff like physiotherapists, speech pathologists, psychologists and occupational therapists stepped into COVID frontline work. Senior rural doctors say the model could be the future of healthcare in rural Australia.
Some of the most senior doctors in rural healthcare are pushing for a huge shift in the role allied health staff play in the system.Allied health professionals in rural and regional areas conducted COVID swabbing and administered vaccines during the pandemic
"It really allowed allied health professionals to perhaps utilise or showcase some of the knowledge and skills they have that may be outside the public's usual perception of what we do," she said.Emma McLaughlin says she and her colleagues felt great professional satisfaction from being called upon to assist with COVID testing.
"I sort of felt like doing the testing or the swabbing was an opportunity for me to do something that used my professional knowledge, in terms of head and neck anatomy, and skill and experience in terms of looking in people's mouths, putting things in people's mouths and trying to help them feel comfortable with that."The peak professional body for doctors believes this is a model for the future, especially outside the capital cities.
National Rural Health Commissioner Ruth Stewart agrees, arguing rural generalists, not specialists, are needed in country areas. "This is a really good example of how rural generalists continue to work to the top of their scope so that they don't just focus on perhaps post-stroke care, they don't just focus on one aspect of their training."