The South Australian government is expanding a trial that grants nurse practitioners (NPs) expanded authority to treat and test patients, aiming to alleviate strain on the healthcare system.
A trial to give nurse practitioners more power to treat and test patients in South Australia is being expanded as the state government looks to manage the issues in the health system. The state government scheme has placed three NPs in the north, south and west of Adelaide, and two more will arrive in Ceduna and Robe over the next couple of months. The nurses will diagnose illnesses, prescribe medicines and offer continuous mental health support, with their services covered by Medicare.
'Patients are happy, they're able to access care they otherwise wouldn't have had. The bonus is they haven't had to pay for it,' nurse practitioner Jo Lewis said. 'Over 1400 get access to free care in general practice as a result of this pilot and we expect that to continue to grow as we bring on our other nurse practitioners,' Cassandra Ryan from SA Health said.The decision to expand the trials comes after more than 13,000 people presented to metro emergency departments in the past month with ailments the government believes could have been handled by a GP. 'When we're facing a real crisis in terms of the whole country's access to GPs and Medicare bulk-billing, having access to these additional nurse practitioners is so important,' Health Minister Chris Picton said
HEALTHCARE NURSE PRACTITIONERS SOUTH AUSTRALIA GP SHORTAGE EMERGENCY SERVICES
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