APNA welcomes the recommendations made in the Scope of Practice Review to build a stronger primary health care sector

Nurses offer a practical solution for improving primary health care   

Media Statement: 11 November 2024

The Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA) welcomes the recommendations in the Final Report of the Unleashing the Potential of our Health Workforce—Scope of Practice Review.   

“The Albanese government is to be commended for commissioning a number of reviews into the health care system.' says APNA Chief Executive Officer, Ken Griffin.

"The challenge now is to ensure the evidence-based recommendations from this review are implemented.”

If fully implemented, they will remove the unnecessary barriers preventing highly skilled, educated, trusted and experienced nurses and midwives in primary health care from working to their full scope of practice.  

This will, in turn, improve access to quality health care for all Australians, especially those living in rural and remote communities.  

Allowing nurses to work to their full scope of practice as respected members of a multidisciplinary team will also help increase job satisfaction, making it more likely they will remain in the workforce. 

This is welcome news, as 37% of nurses reported in the most recent APNA Workforce Survey that they were considering leaving primary health care because they felt under-recognised and under-utilised.

The recommendation to develop a primary care workforce development program is of particular interest to APNA as we continue to strive to embed primary health care into the nursing curriculum.   

"Preparing student nurses theoretically and clinically to work in diverse primary health care settings is vital for addressing the needs of our ageing population and the increasingly complex and chronic health needs of many Australians," Mr Griffin says.

"We must future-proof the next generation of nurses to have a strong primary health care sector."

APNA also supports more contemporary blended funding models to complement Medicare. These will help ensure patients have access to the care they need from the most appropriate health professional, whether that is a nurse, allied health professional, or GP, through greater flexibility and the emergence of new and innovative models of primary health care. 

Nurse-led and multidisciplinary models of care are increasingly demonstrating that we can deliver safe, quality care in new and innovative ways. The recommendation to establish an independent, evidence-based mechanism to advise on workforce design is very welcome, as it will help us continue to build health care models that work and meet the health care needs of Australians.   

APNA will complete a detailed review of the report, its recommendations, and how they impact our members and those they care for. However, so far, we are optimistic about the future of Australian primary health care.   

We look forward to supporting the Australian Government in delivering the reforms and recommendations in the report alongside fellow nursing and midwifery peak organisations and stakeholders.   

We would also like to thank Professor Mark Cormack and the Expert Advisory Committee for their work on the report.  

About the Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA) 

APNA represents over 98,000 primary health care nurses in Australia working outside of hospitals, including those employed in general practice, schools, aged care facilities, correctional facilities and in wider community settings.