The consultation was about amendments to the Medicines and Poisons Regulations 2016 to authorise designated registered nurse prescribers and pharmacists to prescribe Schedule 4 (prescription only) and Schedule 8 (controlled drugs) medicines. The consultation also sought feedback on governance controls and safety considerations relating to prescribing by these types of non-medical prescribers.

A total of 51 submissions were received. Seventeen were from organisations and 34 were from individuals. Organisations representing medical practitioners, nurses, pharmacists and consumers responded.

The preferred option for regulating prescribing, by both professions, was to authorise prescribing when carried out in accordance with a mandatory Prescribing Instrument. This approach was viewed as:

• More flexible and adaptable than embedding detail in the Regulations and
• Capable of defining essential safety requirements without creating unnecessary barriers.

Support for designated registered nurse prescribers and pharmacists being authorised to prescribe Schedule 8 medicines was mixed and respondents emphasised the role of safeguards when prescribing these higher risk medicines.

Following approval from the Minister for Health, regulatory changes are being progressed. Details of the final proposals are available in the Consultation report.

Further targeted consultation will be undertaken during development of the proposed Prescribing Instruments.

In July 2025, the End-of-Life Care Program’s Statewide Goals of Patient Care (GOPC) Working Group sought suggestions for improvement for the GOPC form used in public hospitals. The survey outlined several proposed changes for the form and allowed for additional suggestions. Anyone with an involvement in GOPC processes was encouraged to complete the survey to inform the review of the form.

116 survey responses were received, with most respondents being hospital workers from public hospitals. Overall, there was strong support for the proposed changes to the form which included:

• recording information about interpreters involved in discussions
• adding prompts to check My Health Record and local records for existing advance care panning (ACP) documents
• reflecting current terminology and names of ACP documents used in WA
• incorporating more prompts to ask and record what matters most to the person, including values, physical, cultural, spiritual and environmental needs and end-of-life preferences
• sharing copies of the form during transfers to another facility, home or with the patient’s GP
• including more context regarding decisions for extended use and clarity as to which circumstances it applies.

Other key themes that emerged from the feedback included:

• clarity required for the term ‘person responsible’ and how this relates to the Hierarchy of treatment decision-makers
• need for better understanding of the legal standing of GOPC forms and different ACP documents
• need to clarify and simplify sign off requirements
• change the order of the form and wording of the questions (including prompts where practicable) to support the natural flow of the conversation
• consider awareness raising for the general community and information for patients prior to the discussion to help inform discussions and decisions
• consider development of statewide guidance, education and auditing processes to upskill health professionals to guide quality GOPC conversations and documentation.

The survey results have been used by the Working Group to develop a revised version of the GOPC form. Once approved, the revised form will be rolled out across public hospitals and will be available on the Department of Health website. The survey results will inform future activities of the Working Group in regard to education and evaluation of GOPC processes.

WA Health has been developing guiding principles for the selection, collection, use and reporting of Patient Reported Measures (PRMs) which includes both Patient Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) and Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs).We asked for your feedback on the draft guiding principles, this included whether they were clear, relevant, appropriate and if worked well together to reflect a balance approach to system-wide use of PRMs.

We received 101 responses, with good representation from our consumer and carer community as well as WA Health staff.  Overall, there was a very high level of support for the draft guiding principles with some suggestions for re-wording and queries about how these would be applied or work in practice.

As a result of the feedback, we have made some minor adjustments to these guiding principles to ensure their intent is clear. We have also developed an overarching statement describe the purpose, use and expected audience for these guiding principles. The final version of these can be viewed in the pdf below.

We will be using these to guide the next stages of this project looking at selection of PROMs for use within the WA Health System. If you would like us to let you know when future engagement opportunities arise relating to this project, please send us an email at health.policy@health.wa.gov.au.

The Office of Population Health Genomics (OPHG) asked stakeholders for their feedback on the content of the draft Genetic Health Western Australia (GHWA) Service Plan 2025-2030 (the Plan), which has been developed to guide GHWA’s delivery of clinical genomic specialty services over the next 5 years.

We asked for stakeholders’ opinions on:

• The proposed future service model for GHWA,
• The appropriateness of the service directions and underlying objectives, and
• Whether the proposed actions will collectively ensure that the objectives of each service direction are achieved.

A total of 23 responses to the survey were received through Citizen Space and 3 written submissions were received via email. The feedback received was positive overall, with some additional areas for GHWA to focus on in the future suggested by respondents. The key themes that emerged from the responses are summarised below.  

Increased accessibility for clinical genomic specialty services

• 8 respondents raised the improvement of access to genomic testing and/or GHWA’s services as a priority for the future.
• Common suggestions included expanding eligibility for genomic testing for certain consumer groups and enabling timelier access to GHWA’s services. 

Expanding collaborations with stakeholders

• 6 respondents suggested that GHWA should partner or engage with other health service providers and/or community groups to improve service accessibility and coordination of care.
• Suggested collaborators included health consumers, primary care professionals, specialty services in other hospitals, and interstate or national education and advocacy bodies.

Raising awareness of GHWA’s services

• 5 respondents highlighted the need to raise consumers’ and health professionals’ awareness of GHWA and its services.
• It was noted that this can help to increase trust in and improve consumer access to GHWA.

Staff training, recruitment, and retention

• 5 respondents emphasised the importance of GHWA’s specialised workforce being appropriately trained, recruited and retained to meet the demand for genomic services.
• Specific suggestions to achieve this included supporting genetic counsellor trainees, providing staff with opportunities to gain regional experience, and ensuring attractive working conditions.
• It was also recommended that GHWA utilise other health professionals (e.g., general practitioners, nurses) to deliver services and relieve pressure on GHWA.  

Other issues that multiple stakeholders felt were important to action in the Plan included:

• Improving equity of access and cultural safety for Aboriginal people.
• Addressing concerns around genomic data privacy and trust in the service.
• Providing ongoing psychosocial support for consumers.
• Securing sufficient resourcing to successfully implement the Plan.

In response to the feedback, the Plan has been amended as follows:

• The principles of genomic health care from the WA Genomics Strategy 2022-2032 have been included to: highlight that any new services GHWA provide must be informed by scientific evidence (of utility and cost effectiveness) and community need; ensure that GHWA continues to empower consumers to participate in decision-making around their genomic healthcare; and emphasise the need for GHWA to continue to uphold genomic data privacy and informed consent.
• Specific stakeholders for GHWA to work with when implementing actions have been removed in preference for emphasising that meaningful partnerships and collaborations with all stakeholders (including consumers and carers) will be necessary to successfully implement the Plan. This will ensure a consistent and inclusive approach to stakeholder engagement which considers the specific aims, resources available, and timeframe for each implementation project.
• Approaches to address genomic health equity for Aboriginal people have been strengthened.
• It has been clarified that GHWA’s likely future role in supporting the implementation of precision medicine approaches into the WA health system will be informed by their expertise.
• The Plan already outlines actions related to GHWA improving psychosocial support for consumers by directing consumers to relevant support groups and services and coordinating care and managing complex psychosocial support needs for certain consumer groups. However, it has been clarified that GHWA’s role in care coordination will predominantly be limited to medical care for a consumer’s genetic condition where there is no ‘home’ medical specialty. 
• Recognised enablers (previously introduced in the ‘Future considerations’ section) such as sustainable investment, meaningful partnerships and collaboration, and accountability, roles, and responsibility have been listed in the Executive Summary to highlight their importance for successfully implementing the Service Plan.

Respondents’ specific suggestions for how to implement actions (e.g., raising awareness of the service, collaborating with stakeholders, and improving staff retention) were noted by the OPHG and GHWA for consideration when implementing the Plan.

The final Genetic Health WA Service Plan 2025-2030 is now available to view on GHWA’s webpage here.  

Any queries can be directed to genomics@health.wa.gov.au.  

In October/November 2023, the WA Department of Health End of Life Care (EOLC) Program conducted a consultation to gain a better understanding of the current uptake of advance care planning (ACP) and use of ACP resources in WA. The survey sought feedback on the revised WA Advance Health Directive (AHD) and suite of ACP resources that were released on 4 August 2022.

69 respondents completed the survey with 76% reporting they thought the resources were very effective/ effective. Reported levels of awareness and use of the key ACP resources (Advance Health Directive and accompanying Guide, Values and Preferences Form, Your Guide to ACP in WA: Workbook) was high. Qualitative feedback on the resources was largely positive indicating the information within the resources is clear and comprehensive with a broad range of diversity represented within the images. Areas of concern that were noted included the literacy level and length of some of the resources.

The most common ACP activity reported within the last 12 months was ACP conversations with family, carers or friends.

Health professionals reported they were moderately or very confident in supporting patients with ACP. However, there were a small number of respondents to this question so the results may not be indicative of true levels of confidence across the whole workforce.

The findings informed the development of several actions that the EOLC Team is currently implementing alongside existing work plans and priorities. This includes exploring possibilities to simplify the range of ACP information, arranging targeted awareness around common misconceptions, coordinating general awareness raising of ACP and investigating further opportunities for health professional education.