AHPA bemused by RACGP’s FOMO

AHPA Chief Executive Officer Bronwyn Morris-Donovan today responded to the recent article in the RACGP’s NewsGP regarding the Department of Health and Aged Care’s Draft National Allied Health Workforce Strategy:

“I was bemused to read the RACGP’s demand for recognition in the inaugural Allied Health Workforce Strategy,” Ms Morris-Donovan said.

“Given the general practice sector is well resourced in comparison to primary allied health, it feels petty for the RACGP to complain they are not part of a workforce strategy that does not belong to them. 

“Statements from the RACGP such as ‘Government needs to emphasise and promote the importance of effective communication between allied health professionals and GPs’ undermine the many thriving multidisciplinary teams that already exist. 

“The RACGP should not be threatened by the role of allied health within primary care. It is going to take a whole of health system approach and everyone working to full scope to meet the demand of an ageing population with increasing chronic and complex conditions. 

“We note that the RACGP recommends ‘general practice be a main setting for allied health professionals to work within meaningful multidisciplinary care teams’. This feels incongruent with the size of the allied health workforce. There are more than 250,000 primary allied health professionals – the second largest health workforce in Australia and six times larger than the general practice workforce (39,449). It’s simply not practical for GPs to be the leader of every multidisciplinary team, let alone within a general practice setting. 

“AHPA is deeply respectful of the contribution of all disciplines including nurses, pharmacists and general practitioners and we are focused on working collaboratively.”

Ends. 

For further information: communications@ahpa.com.au