AMAQ Health Training Partnership
Release: 17th November 2008
Medical practices, nursing homes and private and public hospitals now have the opportunity to provide reception, support and administrative staff at all career levels, with additional training aimed at improving the overall provision of healthcare services provided to the community.
Esset Australia and AMA Services Queensland today announced over the next three years they would jointly provide a suite of nationally recognised health administration qualifications through their Health Training Solutions initiative.
Dr Sally Kervison a general practitioner at Queensland Medical Centre, Ormeau said well trained practice support staff were essential for running a successful practice for both doctors and their patients.
“To successfully work in health administration there are many skills a person needs beyond just office administration. Clearly there is real demand for quality courses specifically tailored to the needs of health support staff,” she said.
The programs all lead to nationally recognised qualifications taken from the newly released Health Training Package HLT07.
The various training programs are delivered through a blend of workshops, on-the-job coaching and distance based materials. Course facilitators meet regularly at locations chosen by participants, usually within their own practice ensuring all metropolitan and rural and remote Queensland health support staff can access the courses.
The General Manager of AMA Services Queensland, Ms Lynda Groom, welcomed this new initiative and the flexibility offered. “The course reinforces things staff are already doing on the job – these are not necessarily all new skills, but it is about bringing these all together and making a package recognising existing skills and building on any gaps.”
For a number of years, participants and employers from other Australian states and territories have had access to Commonwealth Government programs providing financial support* to assist participation in these programs. Queenslanders have also gained access to these programs recently, as a result of intensive lobbying by AMA Services Queensland
Ms Groom said expansion of the Health Training Solutions initiative into Queensland, coupled with access to Australian Apprenticeships Program Incentives are major achievements for AMA Queensland.
“There are severe workforce shortages in all sectors of the Queensland healthcare industry and limited availability of training options for support staff. Access to programs such as these assists practices to upskill staff to become more efficient and help reduce the impact of these shortages.
At the same time staff morale is improved by:
- staff gaining greater understanding of how to deal with the specific challenges of working in a busy healthcare environment;
- staff achieving a specific qualification that recognises these skills; and
- staff accessing a formal career pathway.”
For further information, please contact:
Esset Australia
Vicki Bradford
Regional Manager
Ph: 1300 558 936
vbradford@esset.com.au
Esset Australia delivers courses and qualifications across all Australian states & territories, utilising the latest in distance, blended learning and e-learning strategies to ensure participants are supported through their program and achieve a high educational outcome.
In addition to holding full Australian government registration and accreditation for national courses, Esset Australia also holds ISO 9001:2000 International Quality Assurance certification, demonstrating the organisation's commitment to the highest standards in education provision and client satisfaction.
Esset Australia's industry focused provision of skill development programs has led to numerous state and national industry accreditations, including the Records Management Association of Australasia (RMAA), Liquor Licensing Tasmania and Victoria and the Health Training Solutions initiative in association with AMA Victoria, AMA South Australia, AMA Tasmania, AMA Queensland and AMA ACT.
Other recent media releases are available at: www.esset.com.au/media.htm