Dietitians Australia is welcoming the final report to Unleashing the Potential of our workforce - Scope of Practice Review as the national roadmap towards the meaningful change needed to truly amplify the impact of allied health, including dietitians within the Australian healthcare system.
"We know the potential impact dietitians can have when it comes to providing nutrition care to enhance the health and wellbeing of Australians is held back in our current system," Dietitians Australia Vice-President Dr Fiona Willer said.
"The recommendations in this report send a strong message that we as a healthcare community are ready to change, break down the current barriers, and work together more holistically to provide healthcare to all Australians.
"It is time to move towards a far better use of the allied health workforce, including dietitians, to alleviate the pressure on healthcare professionals at the brunt of the system, and to enable Australians more streamlined and equitable access to the comprehensive healthcare they deserve," Dr Willer said.
"We believe the recommendations in this report will enable the shift needed across government and the health sector, to raise the voices of the entire healthcare community, including dietitians, to drive forward multidisciplinary care teams working to their full scope.
"The proposal to adopt a blended payment model for multidisciplinary teams in primary care is an important step towards delivering high quality, patient-centered care and is warmly welcomed by the dietetic and allied health community.
"It is also encouraging to see a move towards enabling direct referrals within scope of practice, including dietitians being prioritized to complete direct referrals to gastroenterologists.
"As a profession, we look forward to being able to do more to streamline care for Australians as part of this reform process.
"We applaud the actions recommended to remove roadblocks to allow for a consistent scope of practice for dietetics to be applied across the country, whichever State or Territory you are practising in.
"We commend the Government's work engaging the self-regulated professions, including dietitians as part of National Registration and Accreditation Scheme review.
"We welcome the recommendation in this report to commission a rapid impact analysis of reform pathways for professionals outside of the NRAS scheme, and we look forward to playing a valuable advisory role as this work progresses.
"Dietitians Australia congratulates Professor Mark Cormack and the Expert Advisory Committee for delivering a thorough, evidence-driven report that thoughtfully addresses the major challenges facing primary health care delivery in Australia.
"As an organisation we have embraced every opportunity provided through the extensive stakeholder engagement process conducted, and we look forward to ongoing opportunities to contribute our voice as these reforms evolve through the health system.
"We also thank Minister Butler for recognising our current reality 'virtually all health professions are held back by restrictions and barriers unrelated to their skills, training, and experience.'
"We urge the Government to take swift action to break down these barriers and to support and implement the recommendations outlined in the report.
