Position Statement: Paramedics: A sustainable healthcare workforce supporting team-based primary and urgent care across Australasia

Position Statement

Key Statement

With primary and urgent healthcare in Australasia under increasing pressure, and significant health workforce shortages in rural and remote locations, the Australasian College of Paramedicine (the College) urges decision-makers to recognise paramedicine as a sustainable and untapped health professional workforce capable of delivering connected, high-quality, community-based healthcare in primary and urgent care multidisciplinary teams.

Paramedics are highly capable registered health practitioners who work across a range of healthcare settings throughout Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. Paramedics deliver high-quality care that involves autonomous practice, complex patient assessments, and the delivery of treatment that may include invasive procedures and the administration of scheduled or restricted medicines.

There are several key barriers that are preventing the effective utilisation of paramedics across primary and urgent healthcare, those being: A general lack of inclusion of paramedicine across policy and legislation; exclusion from healthcare funding models; insufficient support for paramedic students; and interdisciplinary knowledge and awareness of paramedic capabilities. These barriers need to be addressed to enable primary and urgent care providers to utilise paramedics more efficiently for the benefit of improved health outcomes for all communities across Australasia.

Read our full Position Statement here