AMA Submission to Nurse Practitioner 10 Year Plan Consultation Paper
The AMA has emphasised in its response to the Nurse Practitioner 10 Year Plan Consultation Paper, the valuable role that nurse practitioners (NPs) can play when working collaboratively with GPs and other specialist medical practitioners as part of a team based approached to health care.
The AMA's robust submission highlights that the training and experience of NPs, while high-level in specific areas, is very different to that of GPs, who are the medical practitioner trained to provide comprehensive first contact, holistic and continuing care for patients with any undiagnosed sign, symptom or health concern.
The current legislative requirements for collaborative arrangements ensure that NPs practicing privately do not work in isolation from the medical profession. Any move away from collaborative arrangements is a move towards the fragmentation of care and the increased costs and risk to patient outcomes that brings with it.
