A war of words has broken out over the role of nurse practitioners in the delivery of primary healthcare after the ACT gave approval to a clinic run by nurse practitioners.

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and the Australian Medical Association have urged the ACT Assembly to delay approval for the clinic until there is assurance that it will do no harm.

The RACGP’s faculty chair for NSW and the ACT, Dr Elizabeth Marles said she was concerned that GPs in the local area had not been consulted about the decision.

“As GPs we build trust by offering whole person, continuing, comprehensive and coordinated care,” she said.

“Nurses, nurse practitioners, dieticians, social workers, pharmacists, psychologists and physiotherapists are all vitally needed to support the delivery of a basket of services and to address unmet needs as we move from a hospital based to a community based system.”

But the Australian Nursing Federation has hit back, describing the response from the doctors’ groups as a “complete overreaction”.

“You have to ask what their intent is when they are acting this way because they never come up with any evidence to back up what they say about nurse practitioners being unsafe,” said the federation’s national secretary.

“Nurse practitioners are collegiate and they collaborate in their practice all over the world. They don’t work outside their scope and they refer on appropriately.

“All the evidence shows that nurse practitioners improve efficiency, improve health outcomes and save millions of dollars for state governments. And of course, they help keep people healthy.”