Nurse Practitioners' Role in Urgent Care
Australia’s health sector is set to benefit from a $1.8 billion boost over the next five years. The Federal Government plans to make Medicare Urgent Care Clinics (UCCs) permanent, but the Australian College of Nursing (ACN) emphasises that this will only succeed with urgent reforms. These reforms are necessary to enable health professionals to work to their full potential.
Three years have passed since the first Medicare UCC was introduced. Since then, ACN has consistently called for revisions to the UCC Operational Guidance. They urge the government to update the Medicare Benefits Schedule provisions. These changes would empower nurse practitioners and registered nurses to provide high-quality urgent care.
Strengthening the Operational Guidance is critical, ACN insists. By doing so, a strong multidisciplinary framework can be established. This framework would foster trust and ensure continuity of care between UCCs and primary healthcare providers.
Operational Barriers and Proposed Changes
Among the significant issues is the requirement for a general practitioner to be on-site at all times. This rule has led to reduced operating hours or temporary closures of UCCs. ACN advocates for policy revisions that would allow nurse practitioners to lead services when a medical practitioner is unavailable.
“Genuine quality of care is achieved through robust clinical governance, not by restricting which qualified professionals can lead care,” says Adjunct Professor Kathryn Zeitz, CEO of ACN. Nurse practitioners are already leading urgent care in the ACT’s Walk-in Centres and remote clinics.
Earning Masters-level qualifications and extensive clinical experience, nurse practitioners are regulated to practice autonomously. Their leadership in UCCs aligns with the Governments Nurse Practitioner Workforce Plan 2024034.
ACN also calls on the government to establish a clinical governance framework. This framework would allow designated registered nurse prescribers to operate within their scope and fund nurse-led vaccination programmes at UCCs.
The recent evaluation of the UCC programme highlights a lack of training opportunities for nursing staff compared to medical staff. ACN urges investment in professional development and career pathways for nurses to match opportunities available to their medical colleagues.
In the ACT, nurse-led urgent care services have proven successful, according to the Government’s interim UCC evaluation. These models demonstrate the potential of nurse practitioner leadership, showing that they work effectively.
Professor Zeitz concludes, “The Urgent Care Clinic model is a valuable option for health care consumers seeking urgent, but not life-threatening, care. Nurses are central to the UCC offering, and we must support and invest in them to improve safe, quality, accessible care for all Australians.”
