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Nurse Practitioners are being recognised by the government as playing an important role in providing high-quality primary care in Australia.
The Australian and Western Australian Governments are working together to make it easier for people across the state to receive high-quality primary care from Nurse Practitioners. WA will receive $11.7 million in funding from the Albanese Government's $100 million commitment to pilot new ways to improve primary care across Australia.
This funding is part of the government's commitment to work collaboratively with states and territories to co-develop and pilot innovative primary care models that aim to improve care pathways and reduce the pressure on emergency departments.
The Nurse Practitioner pilot will fund 20 Nurse Practitioners over 2 years who will work independently and in collaboration with other health practitioners to diagnose and treat a wide rang of health conditions, and their services will be free to patients.
This pilot will aim to improve patient access in underserviced and vulnerable populations across Western Australia and will help to address the health workforce shortages in the state.
The program will work closely primary care providers and Nurse Practitioners to successfully design new models of care, as well as providing governance, change management, community education and clinical coaching support. Future evaluations of the program will inform all future policy.
It will be interesting to see how this program performs and how it positively impacts the underserviced and vulnerable populations across Western Australia.
Minister Butler has said "This pilot is a nation-leading opportunity for Nurse Practitioners to work to their full scope of practice leading to better health access for Western Australians. This pilot will make it easier for Western Australians to receive health care where and when they need it."
Minister Sanderson has said "We know access to primary care continues to be a problem in some areas, including in regional and remote Western Australia, and this pilot will supplement the GP workforce. The aim of this pilot is to provide greater access to coordinated long-term care that addresses the needs of priority cohorts with chronic and complex needs such as older Australians and people with a disability. If we can improve community access to preventative, multidisciplinary care we will take the pressure off our hospital emergency departments and improve the health of Western Australians."
Original source - health.gov.au