Media Release

2 November 2006

New Medicare item a risk to rural mums and babies

The Federal Health Minister, Tony Abbott, has ignored the advice of the nursing profession by pressing ahead with an item number that potentially puts the health of rural and remote women and their babies at risk, the Australian Nursing Federation said today.

ANF Federal Secretary Jill Iliffe said there was strong support among the health professions for initiatives to improve access to care for people in rural and remote communities, however the government had failed to take account of safety and quality concerns with the new antenatal Medicare item number 16400.

In an unprecedented collaboration, eight organisations representing nurses, midwives and obstetricians have unanimously called on the federal government, in the interests of health and safety, to limit the list of eligible care providers under the new antenatal Medicare item number, to midwives and nurses and Aboriginal Health Workers with midwifery qualifications.

The concerns for pregnant women and their babies have been ignored by Mr Abbott and the new Medicare item 16400 will allow antenatal care to be delivered in rural and remote communities by midwives, nurses, enrolled nurses and Aboriginal Health Workers, on behalf of doctors. In some states and territories it is illegal for nurses without midwifery qualifications to provide this care.

‘Delivering antenatal care is beyond the scope of practice of nurses without midwifery qualifications,’ ANF Federal Secretary Jill Iliffe said. ‘Antenatal care requires a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of conception, foetal development, preparation for labour and birth, the birthing process and the postnatal period.’

‘Mr Abbott should consider the evidence, and accept the views of experts, that while rural and remote communities do need initiatives to improve access to health services, they are entitled to the same level of safety as their urban counterparts. Political expediency is no reason to put rural and remote women and their babies at risk,’ Ms Iliffe said.

Media inquiries
Jill Iliffe, Federal Secretary  0419 576 590
Ged Kearney, Assistant Federal Secretary 0417 053 322