Catholic Health Australia says the federal Government should expand the roles of care workers, nurses and allied health professionals to improve the productivity and quality of healthcare.
In its submission to the Economic Reform Roundtable, Catholic Health Australia (CHA) argues the health system is being hamstrung by rigid scope-of-practice rules that waste the skills of care workers, nurses, pharmacists, and allied health professionals.
“Australian nurses, care workers, pharmacists, and allied health professionals are some of the most highly trained in the world, yet too many are stuck doing paperwork or barred from performing tasks they’re perfectly qualified to do due to outdated professional boundaries,” Katharine Bassett, director of health policy at Catholic Health Australia, said.
“Governments must fix outdated legislation and restrictive funding rules so these workers can do much more to manage chronic conditions, support prevention, and ease the pressure on stretched hospitals,” Dr Bassett said.
The submission calls for immediate reforms to expand prescribing, referral, diagnostics, and care coordination rights for qualified non-medical professionals, alongside the development of a National Skills and Capability Framework to clarify and support team-based models of care.
“These are not radical ideas. Other countries have done this and Australia is falling behind,” Dr Bassett said. “Every hour a nurse or allied health professional is prevented from working at their full scope is an hour stolen from patient care.
“We also need an overarching workforce planning body to make sure we have the right skills in the right locations and drive long-term planning,” she said.
CHA’s submission also calls for the introduction of a National Private Price to bring transparency and fairness to private hospital funding.
“Moving to a National Private Price where costs for procedures are clearly stipulated would allow hospitals to focus on what they do best, providing high quality care to patients. This would undoubtedly improve productivity and innovation in healthcare,” Dr Bassett said.
The submission also emphasises the importance of investment in digital infrastructure and emerging technologies that reduce the administrative burden on healthcare staff.
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Outdated rules are wasting our health workforce and hindering productivity (Catholic Health Australia)
