Rosanne Flemming NP
30 Aug 2009

Dear Mr Dutton

I am a constituent of your electorate of Dickson and I am also an Endorsed Nurse Practitioner (Aged Care) in Queensland. I have been advised by my professional body, The Australian College of Nurse Practitioners, that you are not willing to support the legislation to allow Nurse Practitioners access to MBS and PBS in their practice. As the opposition spokesperson on health, I feel it is imperative you have an understanding of the ‘coal-face' issues surrounding the proposed access to Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits for Nurse Practitioners. You may be too young to have experienced first-hand the gross inequality of access to health services provided to the aged,
especially those living in residential aged care facilities, but I can assure you it is happening on an appalling scale.

The Australian Doctor
29-Jun-2009
By Paul Smith
 
Legislation giving nurse practitioners direct access to Medicare and the PBS funding for the first time has been tabled in Federal Parliament in a move described by ministers as “historic”.

It came as the AMA, which has waged a vociferous campaign against the expanded role of nurse practitioners, announced it would work with the government on the policy.

The Lancet, Volume 373, Issue 9677, Page 1736, 23 May 2009

Nicola Roxon—Australia’s Minister for Health and Ageing—has taken some pioneering steps in announcing the country’s health budget. Midwives in Australia will, from 2010, be able to prescribe subsidised drugs and bill their services to Medicare, the nation’s health safety net. Nurse practitioners will also be granted further prescribing rights and Medicare access. These changes represent a big step towards reducing the now blurred boundaries between doctors and nurses. Diversifying the workforce and getting better value for money can only, argues Roxon, improve patient care. Other winners in the budget include rural health, with funding to attract doctors extended to 500 additional remote communities. Maximum retention bonuses for doctors in the most remote locations will be nearly doubled. And Indigenous health services will receive a AUD$200 million (US$151 million) boost, to help close the health inequity gap.

Nurse Practitioners applaud access to Pharmaceutical and Medical Benefits Scheme rebates for their patients

The Australian College of Nurse Practitioners (ACNP) congratulates the Rudd Government on their visionary decision to approve nurse practitioners to prescribe within the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and for patients to receive rebates from the Medical Benefits Scheme (MBS) for diagnostic tests and referrals.

In a breakthrough for the health of all Australians, last night the Federal Government allocated significant funds to reimburse patient’s costs when they receive care from nurse practitioners.