Funding programs that recognise the training and clinical consultancy roles of Rural Generalist and rural General Practitioner supervisors, is a key priority in ACRRM’s Pre-Budget submission to the Federal Government.
The College believes that the future Rural Generalist workforce should be trained by current Rural Generalists.
ACRRM President Dr Dan Halliday says College members acknowledge the benefits provided by accredited supervision, not only of registrars, but also medical students and other healthcare practitioners.
“We are committed to providing high quality, contextually based training for our registrars and strong support for accredited supervisors,” Dr Halliday says.
“But we need to address the challenges associated with supervisor recruitment.
“The rural workforce is ageing and while there is a strong cohort of emerging Fellows, the new influx needs support to replace them.
“We also know that the challenges of rural and remote general practice have increased over time, with increased imposts in workload and associated implications for practitioner wellbeing, administrative burden, and practice costs which have not been adequately reimbursed through MBS and other funding arrangements,” Dr Halliday adds.
The ACRRM Pre-Budget Submission calls for new MBS item numbers and/or other mechanisms which acknowledge the clinical consultant services provided by RG and GP supervisors, with indexed loadings for rural and procedural practice supervision, including:
“It extends to taking on a clinical consultant advisory role, where the registrar may call on the supervisor to draw on their advanced clinical knowledge and experience. A similar situation could occur where an ACRRM-accredited RG is called on by a nurse practitioner or other healthcare professional, to provide management or advice in a clinical consultant capacity.
“These clinical consultancy services are critical to the provision of safe, high-quality care in rural and remote areas in addition to enhancing registrar knowledge, but the current MBS delineations are in need of review to ensure they fully acknowledge the time and skills of the supervisor or appropriately accredited Rural Generalist in this important area,” Dr Halliday says.
ACRRM President Dr Dan Halliday says College members acknowledge the benefits provided by accredited supervision, not only of registrars, but also medical students and other healthcare practitioners.
“We are committed to providing high quality, contextually based training for our registrars and strong support for accredited supervisors,” Dr Halliday says.
“But we need to address the challenges associated with supervisor recruitment.
“The rural workforce is ageing and while there is a strong cohort of emerging Fellows, the new influx needs support to replace them.
“We also know that the challenges of rural and remote general practice have increased over time, with increased imposts in workload and associated implications for practitioner wellbeing, administrative burden, and practice costs which have not been adequately reimbursed through MBS and other funding arrangements,” Dr Halliday adds.
The ACRRM Pre-Budget Submission calls for new MBS item numbers and/or other mechanisms which acknowledge the clinical consultant services provided by RG and GP supervisors, with indexed loadings for rural and procedural practice supervision, including:
- Review of MBS clinical consultation item descriptors
- Review of applicability and development of MBS Item numbers that apply when a registrar requests a clinical consultation requiring assessment and management from an accredited supervisor.
- Incentivisation of transfers of care and provision of clinical consultation services within the rural and remote context through access to rural loadings and relevant bulk billing incentive frameworks.
- Initial funding of several rural and remote pilot projects to obtain data on funding implications and design requirements.
“It extends to taking on a clinical consultant advisory role, where the registrar may call on the supervisor to draw on their advanced clinical knowledge and experience. A similar situation could occur where an ACRRM-accredited RG is called on by a nurse practitioner or other healthcare professional, to provide management or advice in a clinical consultant capacity.
“These clinical consultancy services are critical to the provision of safe, high-quality care in rural and remote areas in addition to enhancing registrar knowledge, but the current MBS delineations are in need of review to ensure they fully acknowledge the time and skills of the supervisor or appropriately accredited Rural Generalist in this important area,” Dr Halliday says.
ENDS