Medicare reforms could reproduce UK NHS failures, doctors fear [Video]

Doctors fear Australia could follow the path of the United Kingdom’s struggling health system as the federal government probes changes that would give pharmacists, nurses and other health professionals more authority to prescribe medicines or refer patients to specialists.

Health Minister Mark Butler will later this year receive the recommendations of a review that is considering ways to cut red tape so that non-medical health workers – which also include midwives, physiotherapists and paramedics – can do more in a primary care system that relies heavily on general practitioners.

An interim paper from the review highlighted the Canadian and UK health systems as useful examples, as it suggested professionals other than doctors could have expanded prescribing and referral powers – a move it said would reduce reliance on …