The Australian College of Nursing welcomes the Treasurer’s Budget which outlined investment and support for the four pillars of the health system: guaranteeing Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme; supporting hospitals; prioritising preventative and mental health; and investing in medical research.
“The Australian College of Nursing supports the positive announcements such as the innovative ‘5 compacts’, which will lead to budget savings and consumer benefits through cheaper medicines and also strengthening the ‘My Health Record’ initiative to better link patient data across the health system,” Australian College of Nursing CEO, Adjunct Professor Kylie Ward said.
The Australian College of Nursing commends the investments announced tonight as steps towards addressing some of Australia’s biggest health challenges.
The Australian College of Nursing acknowledges the systems level reform and the need to make savings, however, there continues to be a lack of strategy on health workforce development, including the nursing workforce, especially given the predicted nurse shortages.
“There is significant potential to make better use of our nursing workforce to save on health care dollars without compromising on patient and broader community health outcomes,” Adjunct Professor Kylie Ward said.
“For example, nurse practitioners are not yet working to their full potential in the Australian health care system and as a result the community is not getting the most out of a cost-effective, highly skilled health care professional workforce.
“Nursing delivers value for money, but to get the most out of our nursing profession we need to invest in nurse leaders.
“The Australian College of Nursing will continue to work with the Commonwealth Government to pursue excellence in community health outcomes which can only be achieved by making greater use of the most wide-reaching and largest health workforce – nursing.
“Nurses are at the forefront of delivering exceptional patient care, but work best in systems that are well supported to achieve maximum patient benefits,” Adjunct Professor Ward said.
