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SOCIAL workers and psychologists should be able to counsel patients and bill Medicare under a radical proposal by the State Government to counter the national shortage of doctors.
The Government believes health workers other than doctors, such as podiatrists and nurses, should be able to prescribe subsidised medicine under the federal PBS scheme.
Health Minister Bronwyn Pike said the proposals should operate in areas of doctor shortage. "The recommendation is very modest. We are not talking about wholesale change and we are not talking about any risk."
Australian Medical Association federal president Mukesh Haikerwal rejected the ideas, saying they threatened both the quality of treatment and patient safety.
The proposals are part of a package of recommendations by the State Government to the Productivity Commission, which is seeking to find how to best tackle Australia's shortage of doctors, nurses and other health staff.
Behind the political posturing, the press in the UK are reporting the NHS is in crisis and is cash strapped. Trusts cannot afford new doctors and nurses and many professionals are seeking employment elsewhere, including Australia. Despite recent constraints on medical recruitment to Australia, the talent is just too good to ignore and more and more health care professionals are being recruited. Reported recently 1500 job hunting physiotherapists have been frozen out of the NHS because of the lack of money to recruit and many are now seeking jobs overseas, including Australia. This situation is likely to continue and worsen according to experts. Although still in discussion phase, new health reforms in the UK (post Agenda for Change) are likely to move towards commissioning services such as podiatry with less reliance on directly engaged clinicians. If this comes to pass then it will change the current PAYE predominence in the NHS and push more elective services into the private sector, arguably leaving existing funding for priority primary health care. In that sense the UK (podiatry) system is likely to replicate in future the Australian and US models. Never a dull moment.
Bold plan to aid doctor crisis
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