TRIPARTITE SUPPORT FOR PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT INVESTIGATION

The Tasmanian Greens today welcomed progress on their physician assistant initiative, with the successful passage of a motion to investigate their introduction as a new class of healthcare professional in the Tasmanian system.

Greens Health spokesperson Paul O’Halloran MP said the Greens had proposed introducing PA’s to Tasmania as one solution to help meet the growing funding and workforce challenges facing the health system.

“The evidence clearly shows that the addition of physician assistants to complement our current professional health workforce can deliver more effective, timely and efficient medical services to communities, especially in rural and regional areas,” Mr O’Halloran said.

“The Greens welcome the support of Labor and Liberal to formally investigate this proposal, and we now hope to see speedy progress on this issue from the Health Minister, who has undertaken to update the Parliament on the investigation’s outcome.”

“Tasmania is facing many challenges in health care delivery, including ageing and increasing population, increasing rates of lifestyle related diseases, increasing costs of health care delivery, and being the most decentralised population in Australia”

“A report by Workforce Australia Report released last month demonstrated that there is a place and a demand for physician assistants in Australia.”

“Since this study was released, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory have moved to amend their laws to allow for physician assistants to operate in those jurisdictions.”

“Physicians assistants would help address concerns about the lack of timely access to medical services in our rural and regional communities, while reducing emergency department waiting times and easing pressure on elective surgery lists.”

Mr O’Halloran negotiated a minor amendment to secure the Minster’s commitment to report back to the Parliament.

Text of final amended motion:

That this House notes:
1. The Health Workforce Australia Report released on Friday 24 August this year which demonstrated that there is a place and a demand for physician assistants in Australia, particularly in rural, remote and regional locations;
2. That a recent poll on the Australian Doctor Website indicated majority support for physician assistants being the preferred solution to workforce shortages in rural general practice;
3. That a Pilot Study was conducted in Queensland, with a report released in 2010 looking predominantly at the role of Physician Assistants in rural/ regional setting;
4. That this report demonstrated that all sites where PA’s were deployed, they were considered to have contributed to improved system functioning through appropriate delegation and streamlined patient processes, were accepted well by Nurses and Doctors (despite both professions having voiced concerns before the study), and that patients were satisfied by the care they received;
5. That the Queensland Parliament has since this study, recently amended the Queensland Poisons Act to allow Physician Assistants to operate in the Queensland Health System and the Australian Capital Territory has since followed suit;
6. That the Queensland study looked into and reported on the legislative and regulatory requirements that would need to be overcome in order to allow Physician Assistants to operate;
7. Recognises that the addition of Physicians Assistants to complement our current professional health workforce can deliver more effective, timely and efficient medical services to communities, especially in rural and regional areas; and
8. Further this House, calls on the Minister for Health to commit to investigating, including consultation with relevant stakeholders, how to best implement the introduction of Physician Assistants in the Tasmanian Health System, and also undertake to report back to the House at the conclusion of this process.
Paul O’Halloran MP Greens Health Spokesperson Wednesday, 26 September 2012