United General Practice Australia (UGPA) - the coalition of the peak groups representing Australia's general practitioners (GPs) - today issued a strong united endorsement of collaborative care arrangements between health professionals to deliver the best possible health outcomes for Australian patients.

UGPA congratulates the Government on its recent amendment to the Health Legislation Amendment (Midwives and Nurse Practitioners) Bill 2009, which specifies a legal requirement that midwives and nurse practitioners must work in formal collaborative arrangements with medical practitioners.

UGPA believes the amended Bill provides the most appropriate patient-centred model of collaborative care to benefit all Australians, including in country areas.

The legislative requirement in the Bill is consistent with the Government's original policy direction to ensure continuity of quality patient care and prevent the fragmentation of patient care services.

Patients will enjoy better health outcomes when they are treated in a collaborative model of holistic care that provides coordinated, continuous and comprehensive patient-centred care, which is delivered by appropriately trained health professionals.

The Bill provides a framework of quality primary care delivery that supports teambased care that ensures that the role of medical practitioners, particularly the patient's usual GP, is supported.

UGPA wants the amended Bill passed by the Parliament, but recognises that the Bill is just the beginning of the process.

UGPA will continue to engage in spirit of cooperation to deliver quality primary care services that are among the best in the world and which build on the core strength of the current system, which is general practice.

United General Practice Australia (UGPA) - comprising the Royal Australian
College of General Practitioners (RACGP), the Australian Medical Association
(AMA), the Australian General Practice Network (AGPN), General Practice
Registrars Australia (GPRA), the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicinev (ACRRM), and the Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) - met in Canberra this morning.

Source
Australian Medical Association