Allied Health Insights Vol.3 No.8: Driving Advanced Practice for Allied Health from the Top Down – A Collective and Efficient Approach

In this edition of Allied Health Insights

The Advanced Practice Summit, co-hosted by Canberra Health Services and University of Canberra to be held tomorrow (6 March 2024).

In person tickets are sold out but tickets to attend the Summit’s morning session (9AM-12PM AEDT), online, are free and still available as of drafting.

The recording of the morning’s session will be made available after the event on The Allied Health Academy’s Advanced Practice Collective (which is free to join). Join the Collective now, to join the discussion and the movement to further advanced practice in Australia and internationally.

On the back of the imminent Advanced Practice Summit in Canberra (above), it is especially timely to explore the utilisation and benefits of advanced practice roles within Australia.

The allied health sector in Australia is large, complex and fragmented by professions, jurisdictions and employer types. As a result of these complex state/territory, profession and employer variations in the treatment of allied health, the advancement of practice within the sector has been piecemeal and incremental, leading to inefficiency and duplication of efforts.

Generally, only larger professions (for example, physiotherapy and pharmacy), have been effective at developing advanced practice frameworks at the profession level. However, despite a growing evidence base supporting the benefits of advanced practice, the implementation of advanced practice is often driven from the ‘bottom up’, rather than ‘top down’ (being developed and prioritised by those in leadership and senior management roles). Some states have introduced advanced practice frameworks, such as Queensland,  South Australia and Victoria. Other states and territories are working towards advanced practice frameworks. However, the extent to which these frameworks are truly reflected in allied health career pathways still largely depends on local champions to implement new models of care. The potential for inconsistent approaches raises concerns regarding ongoing fragmentation, and failure to capitalise on the benefits (like advanced practitioner mobility) which would be facilitated by a nationally consistent approach.

To address these challenges, there is a pressing need for a collective and efficient approach to drive advanced practice changes. Dr Susan Nancarrow outlines a number of strategies to achieve this goal, ensuring allied health professionals can contribute more effectively to the healthcare system, and are ultimately encouraged to stay within clinical roles rather than needing to transition to administration and management for development of their careers.

• Our sister company The Allied Health Academy is pleased to invite you to free introductory webinars about its upcoming programs:

• • Empowering Allied Health Entrepreneurs (intro webinar 27 March 6:00-7:00PM AEDT)—an eight-week online program designed to bridge the gap between clinical expertise and business acumen, helping you create a profitable service delivery model that empowers you to do more of the work that matters to you. This event has been rescheduled due to international interest.
  • Board Bootcamp (intro webinar 27 March 2:00PM-3:00PM AEDT)—a specialised online program, run over 16 weeks, which will equip you with the essential knowledge and skills to implement effective governance practices and drive value creation.