Committee report confirms Government approach

Today’s report from the Assembly’s Standing Committee on Health, Community and Social Services regarding access to primary health care in the ACT confirms that the Government’s approach to supporting general practice is the right one.

The Report entitled Access to Primary Health Care Services was tabled in the Legislative Assembly today.

The Report recommends the Government pursue a range of actions such as continuing to work with the Division of General Practice and the Federal Government, supporting practices, and expanding the provision of services provided in community health centres.

“I am pleased that the Committee’s Report has endorsed many of the Government’s current initiatives,” Ms Gallagher said.

“Many of the recommendations made by the Committee relate to actions already being undertaken by the Government. We have been working hard to support general practice and grow the workforce.

“I continue to work with my federal colleagues to improve access to primary care and in fact I recently secured an additional five general practice training places for Canberra for 2010.

“In the 2009-10 Budget I announced $51.3 million in funding for a new Enhanced Community Centre at Belconnen which will provide an expanded range of services such as dental, community nursing, community mental health, renal dialysis, and chronic disease management.

“We are also constructing a Walk-in centre at the Canberra Hospital and will look for opportunities to expand if the model proves successful.

“The roll out of our $12 million package of initiatives for GPs continues, with the first round of the GP Development Fund currently open for applications. This $4 million grants program provides one-off incentive payments of up to $50,000 to general practice for initiatives that attract and retain staff, establish new services, support disadvantaged groups and improve access to general practice.

“Last month the Government invited proposals for a new GP Aged Day Service to improve access to general practitioners for elderly Canberra residents. Once up and running, this service will provide a business hours service to elderly residents living in aged care facilities or those who are housebound,” Ms Gallagher said.

The Minister said the Government was also implementing the recommendations of the GP Taskforce and had introduced a bill into the Legislatives Assembly in December to amend the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997. The bill seeks to do a number of things, including requiring practices to provide a period of four weeks notice to consumers and the community before a closure, merger or relocation, requiring practices to notify ACT Health of these arrangements, and clarify the law around ownership and access to health records.

“The Government is already pursuing many of the recommendations made by the Committee while others will need to be considered in light of the financial implications and the limitations we face as a Territory government without primary responsibility for general practice,” Ms Gallagher said.

23 February 2010