GP-led collaborative care the way forward
The latest edition of Australian Medicine is out now and features an article by Dr Richard Kidd, Chair of the AMA Council of General Practice, on the importance of GP clinical oversight in collaborative care arrangements, with health professionals working within their scope of practice.
Dr Kidd states that it is imperative health professionals do what is best for patients: preventing the fragmentation of care while working collaboratively within the GP team.
“An integrated health care team spearheaded by the GP is best placed to improve health care provision for patients and to avoid fragmentation of care. Worldwide the evidence across a variety of models of care demonstrate that the key to success is a collaborative environment where the healthcare team works together, and not at cross purposes, to address the healthcare needs of the patient.”
Dr Kidd goes on to explain that calls by non-medical health professionals, such as pharmacists or nurse practitioners, for the right to provide services outside of a collaborative arrangement risk the fragmentation of care and undermines the successful model we have. Furthermore, these calls are accompanied by exaggerated or inaccurate claims to justify them. Working as a team with a GP as the lead is the best model.
“The provision of patient centred quality care should be paramount for all medical and health professions. By working together as a team, we can make the best use of our various skills and scopes of practice, to provide timely, pro-active, preventive and holistic patient care.”
Dr Kidd concludes by emphasising that the principles of continuity, coordination, comprehensiveness, accountability, accessibility and patient centredness will continue to drive AMA advocacy on collaborative arrangements.
