Key elements of perioperative medicine: gradual change or paradigm shift?
MEDICAL WORKFORCE SOLUTION: DELEGATION OR SUBSTITUTION?
G.J. Maddern
University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA
The challenge facing the delivery of health service within Australia is a decreasing medical workforce working shorter hours and a larger number of elderly patients requiring medical care and treatment. In order to grapple with this problem it will be important to look at alternative delivery systems and particularly within the surgical context the concept of task delegation rather than task substitution is gaining increasing support. The opportunity to have staff coming from science, psychology and nursing backgrounds being utilised to perform under supervision and guidance procedures such as endoscopies, colonoscopies, hernia repairs, prescribed drug prescription, consent processes and other such interventions would seem to be a realistic option. Such individuals will almost certainly need tertiary training but as important would be the health system will need to provide funded positions for them to occupy once this training is completed. Without this type of initiative it will be impossible to bring in the reforms required in the Australian healthcare system.
Time of Presentation
Saturday 13 May 2006 - 1330-1500
