Pathways telehealth nurse service partners were informed on 1 June 2023 that applications to a Department of Health and Aged Care grant to support their specialist nurses were not successful.
The grant was made available by the Albanese government to address their election commitment to fund and expand the Pathways telehealth nurse service under the leadership of the Centre for Community-Driven Research (CCDR).
The commitment was made at the National Patient Organisation Network (NPON) conference on 1 March 2022 by the Hon Mark Butler MP, who was since confirmed as health minister. The announcement came as a promise should an Albanese government be elected in the May 2022 federal election.
The funding included a portion for CCDR to manage the program with the bulk of the funding going directly to community-based organisations (patient organisations) to fund Pathways telehealth nurses.
In an effort to release funding, in July 2022 CCDR advised the health minister that we would forgo our portion of the funding so that patient organisations could receive the funds they need for their nurses sooner. This did not happen either.
CCDR has continued to deliver this service through a volunteer nurse workforce since funding ended on 30 June 2022. While we are grateful to the generous women who give their time and expertise, we shouldn’t be in this position and we believe every nurse deserves a fair wage and will continue to look for ways to compensate all Pathways staff and nurses for their work.
The program is incredibly successful and drew praise from Mr Butler when the election commitment was announced, and later through the Pathway’s Director of Nursing and Advanced Practice Nurse, Kate Holliday, being nominated for the Health Minister’s own Award for Nursing Trailblazers in August 2022. Kate was also listed on the 100 Outstanding Nurses and Midwives of 2020 by the World Health Organisation, UNDP and International Council of Nurses, in recognition of this work. The program is currently being adapted for implementation in other countries and will continue to service patients in Australia.
Pathways is a nurse-led telehealth service specifically developed so that patient organisations of any size can host a specialist nurse. It is an Australian innovation that follows a triage and health system navigation model of care and is the first model to be significantly tested across a range of disease areas in a community setting. CCDR has the unique expertise to provide nurse training, supervision and support, as well as core clinical infrastructure to avoid duplication across organisations.
CCDR has always been and remains open to a dialogue with the Prime Minister and Mr Butler in relation to supporting the successful implementation of their $2.48M election commitment.
This latest development however confirms the Labor government’s decision.
CCDR do not agree with the Labor Government’s decision not to fund Pathways.
We have waited for a year for the funding, and it is not in the best interest of the patient organisations nor the patients they represent to wait any longer, nor do we – as small organisations – have the resources to do so. CCDR has communicated with Pathways partner organisations that it’s time to move ahead as patients can no longer wait for the support they need.
CCDR is proud to work with all partner organisations and this final decision by the government is not a reflection on or failure of any individual patient organisation’s track record, advocacy efforts, demonstration of patient need, or ability to deliver this service.
The patient organisations involved are all professional, competent, doing incredible work, and are an important and permanent part of the health system in Australia.
The focus of Pathways is service delivery however it also provides the opportunity to identify real-world patterns of care, access to clinical trials, and patient preferences for treatment, information and support. We now call on private and public organisations that have grant or sponsorship capacity to get in touch to discuss opportunities to support nurse education, evaluation or other discrete program support. To learn more about the program, past evaluations, audited financials etc. go to www.ccdr.org/pathways
ENDS
Contacts
Kate Holliday
Chief Executive and Director of Nursing
Advanced Practice Nurse
holliday@cc-dr.org
Sara Riggs
Deputy Chief Executive and Assistant Director of Nursing
Advanced Practice Nurse
sriggs@cc-dr.org