Aust Govt announces a new era in health care
The Commonwealth Government wants to ensure that all Australians have access to affordable, high quality, comprehensive and integrated primary care services which are convenient and accessible.
Good primary care in local communities means people stay healthier, manage chronic disease and illness more effectively, and stay out of hospital.
The nature of primary care and the primary care workforce is also changing. Increasingly, new workforce elements and flexibility around roles are presenting opportunities for different ways of delivering health services. Multi-disciplinary teams are broadening the primary care workforce beyond general practitioners and, supported by technology, are enabling new service models. Furthermore, new doctors want more flexibility in their careers and working conditions that traditional models of general practice, particularly in regional areas, don't always allow.
To tackle these challenges, as announced in the 2007 election campaign, the Government's National Health and Hospitals Reform Plan includes three related types of reform:
- Up front funding to improve health and hospital services;
- Incentive payments for the achievement of improved health outcomes; and
- Funding to boost the provision of primary health care services.
The Commonwealth Government's investment of $223.2 million over four years in the health system to establish GP Super Clinics is one of the key ways in which the capacity of primary health care services will be boosted. There are a number of locations where State and Territory governments will invest in GP Super Clinic locations, including matching the value of Commonwealth funding (Attachment A). The level of investment across jurisdictions will evolve as the GP Super Clinic program is implemented and, where relevant, will be detailed in the Invitation to Apply for that locality.
GP Super Clinics are a key element in building a stronger national primary care system, including a greater focus on health promotion and illness prevention and better coordination between privately provided GP services, community health and other State and Territory government funded services. In line with this objective, the Commonwealth Government is working closely with the State and Territory Governments in the implementation of this initiative.
What is a GP Super Clinic?
GP Super Clinics will allow new facilities and sites of excellence in primary care service delivery and health professional education and training (with a multi-disciplinary focus) to be established within local communities.
It is intended that each GP Super Clinic will bring together general practitioners, practice nurses, visiting medical specialists and allied health professionals and other health care providers to deliver better primary health care, tailored to the needs and priorities of the local community.
GP Super Clinics will support primary health care providers to adopt models of care focussed on best practice integrated multi-disciplinary team based approaches and efficient and effective use of technology. GP Super Clinics will provide a greater focus on chronic disease prevention and management, as well as economies of scale in delivering high quality health care.
While it is likely that GP Super Clinics will take pressure off local public hospitals, all patients will retain their right, under the Australian Health Care Agreements, to attend public hospitals and emergency departments at no cost if they so wish. Services provided at GP Super Clinics will be provided under the usual fee for service arrangements.
Any services provided through a GP Super Clinic for which an MBS rebate is claimed, will need to be delivered under arrangements which are compliant with Section 19(2)a of the Health Insurance Act 1973.
GP Super Clinics are also designed to help address one of the key areas of inefficiency and duplication in our health system by improving integration between Commonwealth funded primary care services and State and Territory funded services, both community health and hospital.
GP Super Clinics may also provide a high quality clinical training environment for medical, nursing and allied health professional students and new graduates, in addition to prevocational doctors and GP registrars.
