Expanded Practice

Expanded practice enables registered medical laboratory science practitioners and anaesthetic technicians to undertake activities that are in addition to the competencies for their relevant scope of practice and have been approved by the Medical Sciences Council.

Expanded practice activities undertaken by a registered Medical Laboratory Technician or a Medical Laboratory Pre-Analytical Technician are carried out under the direction of an appropriately registered and qualified health practitioner.

Anaesthetic technicians performing expanded practice activities practise under the direction of an Anaesthetist or intensive care specialist.

Principles of Expanded Practice

• Expanded practice must be focused on meeting patient’s needs and improving patient outcomes.
• Expansion of a practitioner’s practice must meet an identified gap(s) in health services.
• Practitioners working in an expanded practice role must have the required knowledge, skills and the necessary supports to continue in that role.
• Expanded practice is only available to practitioners who hold full registration and have no limiting conditions on their practice.

Policy

Practitioners will be limited to working within those expanded practice activities that have been approved by the Council. They must be able to provide evidence of having completed a training programme that has been credentialed by the laboratory/healthcare facility and meets the Council’s standards for the expanded practice activity.

Employers

A laboratory or healthcare facility must ensure practitioners only perform expanded practice activities that have been previously approved by the Council and that organisational policies and protocols comply with the Council’s standards for the specified expanded practice activity.

If a laboratory/healthcare facility wants practitioners to perform an expanded practice activity that is not on the Council’s list of approved expanded practice activities, they must make a formal written application to the Council.