Zero Progress on Physician Assistant Study
The Tasmanian Greens today questioned the Minister for Health, the Hon Michelle O’Byrne MP regarding progress on the promised implementation evaluation for physician assistants to help ease Tasmanian Health workforce shortages.
Greens Health Spokesperson Paul ‘Basil’ O’Halloran MP said it was disappointing to hear the Minister say that she had no knowledge on the progress of the implementation evaluation, especially considering this Greens-led initiative was passed in the House of Assembly last year with tripartite support.
“It is now over six months since the Greens’ motion was passed and I was disappointed that the Minister seemed to have no knowledge as to whether the implementation evaluation had even progressed” Mr O’Halloran said.
“The debate in September last year demonstrated that all three parties could see merit in investigating this Greens proposal which has potential to alleviate current health workforce shortages, complement existing health professions, improve access to health services in regional, rural and remote areas of Tasmania, and reducing the cost of employing locums.”
“This proposal had the potential to demonstrate Tasmania leading the way in health workforce innovation and I urge the Minister to use her power to drive this evaluation within her Department, to ensure that Tasmania’s health workforce will be equipped to meet the changing needs of the community into the future.”
“It looks like Queensland will now beat Tasmania to the punch to become the first state in Australia to implement physician assistants, as they look set to be introduced within the next financial year.”
“The Minister said she has been working with Health Workforce Australia about future workforce planning, so she must be familiar with the Report released by HWA last year indicating support for the introduction of physician assistants and listing a number of potential benefits relevant to the Tasmanian setting.”
“The Minister stated that she is yet to receive any advice that advancing physician assistants is more of apriority than developing other Nursing professions such as Nurse Practitioners. This demonstrated her lack of understanding of the role and model under which a Physician Assistant would operate.”
“It is not a case of either, or.”
“Nurse Practitioners work under a Nursing model, while Physician Asssistants work under a medical model. They are fundamentally very different and both professions have been working collaboratively and successfully in health systems around the world including the USA and UK.”
“No one can deny that the Tasmanian health system has been under immense pressure due to a myriad of factors including tightening of the budget purse strings, our ageing population and high rates of preventable and lifestyle related conditions.”
“We simply must look at innovative solutions in order to address these challenges now and into the future, and I did not hear one good reason from the Minister today as to why there has not been more action on exploring this new opportunity for Tasmania’s health workforce” Mr O’Halloran said.
Paul O’Halloran MP Greens Health Spokesperson Tuesday, 16 April 2013
