In the lead up to the Australian Federal Budget in May 2023, Australian Health Journal reached out to peak health industry bodies to hear about their priorities, either noted in pre-budget submissions lodged with Federal Government in January 2023 or in recent forums such as the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce.
Others have stated their priorities directly with Federal Government. Through these interviews, AHJ gives a final opportunity to communicate to all health stakeholders, the funding needs for a range of priorities. These range from new models of care to pilots and wholesale, system improvements to building more sustainable workforces to help grow certain sectors of the health system
The CEO of Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA), Ken Griffin spoke with Australian Health Journal about the following:
- APNA President Karen Booth representing Primary Care Nursing in the Australian Government led Strengthening Medicare Task Force
- The current key challenges in primary care nursing
- Programs on diversity and student placement proposed in APNA’s pre-budget submission to Federal Government
- A proposed initiative called Nurse-Supported Self-Care, with broadening role primary care nursing would play in the community
And lastly Ken talks about primary care nursing able to make an impact in aged care through Government funding, to support a residential aged care workforce that will only come into existence from 1st July 2023. He also talks about nurses needing accommodation assistance when moving to regional and remote locations in Australia.
In closing Ken talks about Government needing to “catchup the care for chronic disease” with support for multiple workforces including allied health and multidisciplinary teams. To alleviate the pressure on hospitals, workforce policies need to be assessed to be able to deliver the necessary assessment and management of chronic disease.
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Cardiovascular Disease Risk Guidance and Calculator get long overdue update
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is responsible for significant morbidity and premature mortality in Australia. Ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of death in 2020 and cerebrovascular disease was the third most common cause of death.
As the first major update to Australian CVD risk assessment guidelines in over a decade, the 2023 Australian Guideline for assessing and managing cardiovascular disease risk and associated Aus CVD Risk Calculator reflect the latest evidence on assessing, communicating, and managing CVD risk. Developed using Australian-specific data and the latest evidence, it supersedes the 2012 Guidelines for the management of absolute cardiovascular disease risk.
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Peak body in child and family services urges prioritising healthcare for kids in care
The Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare (the Centre) is calling on the Australian Government to prioritise healthcare access for children in out-of-home care.
“We have many amazing young people in care with huge potential, but they’re not set up for success,” said Deb Tsorbaris, CEO “Young people and workers tell us that access to health and education assessments is a huge disadvantage.”
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Entering The New Health Frontier
A new parliamentary report ‘The New Frontier: Delivering better health for all Australians’ is recommending significant reforms to the health care system to ensure Australians have better and faster access to the wave of new medicines and technologies.
The bipartisan report makes 31 recommendations to reform Australia’s system for the regulation and reimbursement with the hope that patients will receive faster access to the latest medicines and technologies.
