Professional News: May 2010

Solid step for nurses and patients

New funding announced by the Australian Government in March is great news for nurses in general practice. It will allow people with diabetes to voluntarily enroll with their general practice to receive the care they need to manage their health. General practices will receive $1,200 to provide care over a 12-month period, with $250 of this amount allocated to the provision of allied health services.

The multidisciplinary team will be able to develop a plan of care that will allow the patient to see the appropriate person at the appropriate time to optimise their health. Much of this diabetes care will be provided by nurses in general practice, many of whom are diabetes educators or have postgraduate qualifications in chronic disease management and diabetes care. Enrolled patients will be able to make an appointment with the nurse for care, treatment and education to assist them to self-manage their chronic disease. This flexible funding model offers general practice the opportunity to do things differently. It acknowledges the role of nurses in this setting and will assist them to work to their full scope of practice. It is a solid first step towards change that supports keeping people with diabetes well, stable and consequently out of the acute care environment for longer. This initiative will serve to prevent unnecessary and inconvenient hospital admissions.

The government estimates that in 2007-2008, about 237,000 hospital admissions related to complications from diabetes that could have been avoided through better primary health care management. This was considered to represent 32% of all avoidable hospital admissions. At present the funding model doesn’t support quality care and coordination of service. Nurses in general practice are currently funded only $11.35 per visit by Medicare to see patients with chronic diseases, to a limit of five visits per year. Under the plan, performance bonuses of up to $10,800 a year will be paid to general practices based on improving health outcomes and reducing hospitalisations for patients with this chronic disease.

This funding reform has been a long time coming but is a promising move in the right direction. It will improve primary health care access, equity, care and health outcomes for the growing number of Australians with diabetes.

Julianne Bryce,
ANF Federal Senior Professional Officer