GP unity on collaborative care

Australian Medicine, 14 December 2009

United General Practice Australia (UGPA) – the coalition of the peak groups representing Australia’s general practitioners – has issued a strong united endorsement of collaborative care arrangements between health professionals to deliver the best possible health outcomes for Australian patients.

UGPA has congratulated the Government on its amendment to the Health Legislation Amendment (Midwives and Nurse Practitioners) Bill 2009, which specifies a legal requirement that midwives and nurse practitioners must work in formal collaborative arrangements with medical practitioners.

UGPA believes that the amended Bill provides the most appropriate patient-centred model of collaborative care to benefit all Australians, including in country areas.

The legislative requirement in the Bill is consistent with the Government’s original policy direction to ensure continuity of quality patient care and prevent the fragmentation of patient care services.

Patients will enjoy better health outcomes when they are treated in a collaborative model of holistic care that provides coordinated, continuous and comprehensive patient-centered care, which is delivered by appropriately trained health professionals.

The Bill provides a framework of quality primary care delivery that supports teambased care that ensures that the role of medical practitioners, particularly the patient’s usual GP, is supported.

UGPA wants the amended Bill passed by the Parliament, but recognises that the Bill is just the beginning of the process.

UGPA will continue to engage in a spirit of cooperation to deliver quality primary care services that are among the best in the world and which build on the core strength of the current system, which is general practice.

United General Practice Australia (UGPA) comprises – apart from the AMA - the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), the Australian General Practice Network (AGPN), General Practice Registrars Australia (GPRA), the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) and the Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA).

As at December 2009, the Bill had been referred to a Senate committee.