Ministerial Taskforce on health practitioner expanded scope of practice
The Ministerial Taskforce on health practitioner expanded scope of practice (the Taskforce) was a commitment in the Health Practitioners (Queensland Health) Certified Agreement (No. 2) 2011. The focus was to explore opportunities for more effective and efficient use of the allied health workforce in Queensland Health in order to achieve better outcomes for patients, the community and the workforce.
The Ministerial Taskforce on health practitioner expanded scope of practice: final report was released in June 2014. This report made a number of recommendations to facilitate delivery of client-centred, cost-effective services through allied health professionals expanding their scope of practice. If implemented, it was anticipated these recommendations would improve access to services, reduce waiting times in the emergency department and for outpatient specialist and surgical appointments, and improve patient flow. Taskforce findings focussed on expanding the scope of practice of the allied health professions to:
- optimise full scope of practice
- extend scope of practice in appropriate contexts
- delegate tasks to the support workforce to enable full scope and extended scope.
Read the full report (PDF 2659 kB), allied health service delivery models (PDF 417 kB) (Appendix A) and supporting summary table (PDF 161 kB).
Taskforce recommendations have been implemented through a range of activities including funding emerging and proven models of care, addressing legislative barriers, developing and sourcing training and education, supporting relevant research, monitoring and evaluating progress, and disseminating achievements.
The Honourable Cameron Dick, Minister for Health and Minister for Ambulance Services approved the Ministerial Taskforce on health practitioner expanded scope of practice - Implementation phase completion report in April 2017.
Read the completion report (PDF 986 kB).
This report summarises work through the two year implementation phase from July 2014 to June 2016. Key achievements include implementation of first contact allied health expanded scope roles in a range of emergency and outpatient clinical settings that have assisted health services to achieve key performance indicators related to emergency length of stay and outpatient waiting time targets; amendments to the Health (Drug and Poisons) Regulation (1996) and Radiation Safety Regulation(2010) to extend scope of physiotherapy and podiatry practice and the implementation and evaluation of the allied health rural generalists models and positions. Building on the work of the Ministerial Taskforce, a new five year strategy has been developed. The Allied Health Expanded Scope Strategy 2016-2021 aims to continue to tackle barriers and take proven roles, tasks and models of care to scale and embed them into usual practice in the public health system across Queensland.
Building on the work of the Ministerial Taskforce, a new five year strategy has been developed. The Allied Health Expanded Scope Strategy 2016-2021 aims to continue to tackle barriers and take proven roles, tasks and models of care to scale and embed them into usual practice in the public health system across Queensland.
