Extended Scopes of Practice Project

HWA has initiated a program of projects that support implementation of the National Health Workforce Innovation and Reform Strategic Framework for Action 2011 – 2015 (the Framework) following the Framework’s approval by Health Ministers on 4 to 5 August 2011. As part of that program, this Extended Scopes of Practice Project has been initiated by the HWA Board as part of the corresponding 2011-12 HWA work plan.

The program includes undertaking the implementation phase of extending the scope and uptake of new or redesigned roles of health workers and increasing recruitment within areas of high needs with the aim of improving productivity, retention, accessibility, efficiency and effectiveness of health care services.

The Extended Scopes of Practice Project involves undertaking a number of targeted innovative health workforce reform initiatives with a specific focus on role redesign and expanding the scope of existing health workers in acute care settings.

The project consists of three sub-projects:

• Extended Scope of Practice – Physiotherapists in the Emergency Department
• Extended Scope of Practice – Nursing in the Emergency Department
• Extended Scope of Practice – Advanced Practice in Endoscopy Nursing

Physiotherapists in the Emergency Department

This sub-project focuses on boosting retention and productivity of allied health professionals, particularly physiotherapists, in response to emergency medical workforce shortages, increasing presentations to the Emergency Department and the rise in the numbers of patients with chronic conditions.

Nursing in the Emergency Department

This sub-project focuses on boosting retention and productivity of nurses in response to emergency medical workforce shortages, increasing presentations to the Emergency Department and the rise in the numbers of patients with chronic conditions.

Priority areas for HWA are: Mental Health, Models in Rural and Regional Centres and Pediatrics.

Advanced Practice in Endoscopy Nursing

This sub-project focuses on defining a new role and scope of practice as well as a training program on a national basis, providing rigour and consistency around training, along with the quality and safety aspects of implementing a new workforce.

Extended Scopes of Practice Project Aims

The Emergency Department sub-projects aim to:

• enhance the capacity and capability of the workforce to cope with the significant increase in presentations to the Emergency Department and to support medical staff in the current environment of recruitment issues and shortage of Emergency Department medical practitioners; and
• assist in meeting key performance indicators for triage times by category (Australasian Triage Scale 1-5) and for the four-hour waiting time standard.

The Advanced Pracrtice in Endoscopy Nursing sub-project aims to:

• implement an innovative model of extended scope of practice for nurse endoscopists that demonstrates improved productivity in terms of waiting times for an endoscopic procedure;
• implement a new workforce role on a national basis with consideration of national training and scope of practice guidelines and to establish a national training program for nurse endoscopists; and
• enhance the capacity and capability of the workforce to cope with the significant increase in demand for endoscopy as a result of the national bowel screening program.

The Extended Scopes of Practice Project has commenced its work and will fund organisations in early 2012 in the three sub-project areas.

An evaluation framework will be applied to each sub-project and to the project as a whole. This will be conducted on an on going basis throughout the project life-cycle as well as the final evaluation at the end of the project.

In addition, stakeholders will be engaged throughout the life cycle of the project to ensure readiness and ownership for national uptake of findings.

A key deliverable of the project will be the development of toolkits and implementation guidelines together with consideration of the training requirements needed to support national implementation.