The number of registered medical practitioners in Australia has passed 900,000 for the first time, according to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) annual report.
At 30 June this year, there were 920,535 registered health practitioners in Australia, a 4.9 per cent increase on the previous year.
That means there are now 3.4 registered health practitioners for every 100 Australians, according to an agency statement.
It said the increase was the result of its continuing efforts to address workforce needs by getting more health practitioners safely registered faster and respond to new risks from emerging models of care.
“Ahpra continues to work hard to get more international practitioners registered faster and safely by implementing changes in response to the Kruk review,” the agency said.
“Improvements to Ahpra’s registration processes have almost halved the time to finalise international applications, cutting the previous 60-day average to just 33 days.”
Ahpra’s work and the results highlighted in its 2023/24 annual report will be of particular interest to Australia’s ophthalmology community.
In changes being implemented in the wake of the Kruk review, fast-tracking entry of overseas ophthalmologists is expected to begin some time next year, as part of moves to increase the healthcare workforce in this country.
The Australian Society of Ophthalmologists has been critical of some aspects of the scheme, including plans to bypass RANZCO and other medical colleges in the accreditation process for overseas professionals.
At November’s RANZCO congress in Adelaide, plenary chair Dr Grant Raymond said the proposed changes would “produce patient safety and quality of practice issues”.
He also said they would likely exacerbate issues with workforce maldistribution and worsen rural training options.
In its annual report, Ahpra said there was strong growth in the number of internationally qualified health practitioners with 48.4 per cent more new overseas practitioners gaining registration than in the previous financial year.
“Maintaining a balance between access to needed healthcare and the risk posed by some emerging models of care is a key priority for Ahpra, amid the acceleration of telehealth, online prescribing and direct-to-consumer health services,” the agency said.
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