Connecting Tasmanian National Disability Insurance Scheme participants with allied health services: challenges and strategies of support coordinators

The purpose of this study was to explore the challenges and strategies of support coordinators tasked with connecting National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants with allied health services in Tasmania, a largely rural and island state of Australia. Twenty-five registered support coordinators currently supporting Tasmanian NDIS participants participated in semistructured interviews, with interview data coded and thematically analysed. Support coordinators unanimously reported difficulties connecting NDIS participants to allied health services, with a lack of registered allied health providers and providers with specialist skills and experience with complex disabilities. Support coordinators reported lengthy waiting lists for NDIS participants and compromised service quality, which in some cases led to a loss of participant functioning and future funding. Building positive relationships with allied health providers and persistence were perceived as critical to facilitate allied health service access, as was leaving no stone unturned and looking beyond the island for allied health services. Support coordinators play a critical role in connecting NDIS participants to available services through aggressively canvassing local allied health providers, as well as harnessing interstate allied health provider capacity through novel means. Broad workforce strategies are needed to recruit and retain allied health professionals to the Tasmanian NDIS registered provider market. Policy development is also needed to ensure quality and effective support coordination for NDIS participants.