16th Aug 2006, 3:53 PM – Senate Motions - Medicare - Antenatal care in rural and remote communities

The majority voted against a motion introduced by Australian Democrats Senator Lyn Allison. This means that it was unsuccessful.

The motion was:

That the Senate—

(a) notes the consensus statement released on 14 August 2006 on draft ‘ Medicare Item 16400: Antenatal care in rural and remote communities’, which reflects the concerns of the Australian Nursing Federation, the Council of Remote Area Nurses of Australia, the Australian College of Midwives, the Association of Australian Rural Nurses, the Australian Practice Nurses Association, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council, the College of Nursing and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists; (b) acknowledges that the statement expresses concerns about the safety and quality of care that would be provided under the proposed new item within the current descriptor and explanatory notes, specifically: (i) that safe and high quality antenatal care can only be provided by a qualified health professional with appropriate education, that is, a qualified midwife, a nurse with midwifery qualifications, an obstetrician or a general practitioner with a diploma in obstetrics or equivalent qualifications, and (ii) that the signatories to the statement do not support the inclusion of nurses without midwifery qualifications on the list of eligible care providers for the item number 16400 descriptor and explanatory notes; and (c) calls on the Government to consider the safety and quality issues around the provision of antenatal care and to enter into a dialogue with health professionals about modification of the proposed Medicare item number to ensure that safe and high quality antenatal care is provided.