NEXT week during Nurse Practitioner Week, (December 12–18) the ACNP are celebrating and educating Australian communities on what makes a Nurse Practitioner different and why this is essential to the future of healthcare in Australia.

Access to GP appointments locally is always a hot topic for discussion, with the continued population growth of the town, the issue requires innovate solutions to address.

Unfortunately, recruiting more GPs isn't as easy as it may seem.

Both local GP clinics are on the recruitment drive almost constantly to try and maintain a workforce, but it is not easy.

Enter the Nurse Practitioner (NP), sometimes referred to as 'the super nurse'.

NPs have completed additional university study at master's degree level and are the most senior and independent clinical nurses in our health care system.

What is an NP?

• NPs are a widely known and used in the UK and USA and have practised in Australia for more than 20 years.

• NPs have professional autonomy and are responsible and accountable for the care they provide.

• NPs consult with their nursing peers, medical specialists, general practitioners and allied health professionals, to provide quality, holistic care to their patients/clients.

• Nurse Practitioners can prescribe medication under the PBS and refer for most diagnostic tests

• Nurse Practitioner is a legally protected title with the role supported by legislation at both state and national level. The Nurse Practitioner title can only be used by a person who has been endorsed by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA).

Mansfield is fortunate to have three local NPs (Karli Brkljacic, Trudi Copeland– Reid and Nicole Ashmore) and one in training (Cassandra Fraser); this is particularly lucky as there are only about 200 NPs in all of Victoria.

Karli Brkljacic, Clinical Manager at Central General Practice Mansfield (CGP), has been advocating for the role since moving to town six years ago and having recognising the gap in access to care.

"A NP does not replace the role of the GP, but is a great solution for acute, short term and interim care in the absence of access to a GP," Ms Brkljacic said.

Central General Practice (CGP) will be moving to have an NP available 3–4 days a week in 2023 to help with the overflow of appointments, particularly focusing on the urgent or 'on the day' needs such as acute illness and injury, repeat scripts and medical certificates.

This model allows the GP more time to focus on care of their regular patients with more complex health needs.

CGP owner Dr Ben Nally said, "We have had 1000 new patients have their first consult at CGP in 2022; having the NPs on board allows us to manage this influx of new patients and continue to provide quality care.

"Our GPs as a group fully support the role and are always available if NPs need to escalate or discuss patient care," Dr Nally said.

"Our practice continues to grow and our NPs are an important part of our workforce plan moving forward, we just need Medicare to get on board and support the role."

Currently, the Medicare rebates for NP consults are significantly lower than the GP rebates, meaning to ensure the NP model is financially viable for the clinic, bulk billing of NP consults is not possible – so the patient is charged an out of pocket fee.

"We have seen already that most patients are comfortable paying an out of pocket fee as they value the service provided and the convenience of being able to access care in a timely manner," Dr Nally said.