Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Ballarat for her question because it gives me the opportunity to report some really good news to the parliament about the rollout of the 31 GP superclinics that were promised at the election with a $275 million commitment. That number has now increased to 36 clinics across the country, with a very enthusiastic reception by, for example, the member for Parkes for his community’s superclinic.

In September I was delighted to be able to go with the member for Ballarat to open the first fully functioning superclinic in Ballan. That Ballan clinic is providing increased GP services and, for the first time ever in the community of Ballan, dental services. I have not had the opportunity to report to the rest of the House or to the Prime Minister, in fact, these new figures that we have in from the first 10 weeks of work at the clinic. Remember that this is a community of around 8,000 to 10,000 people but servicing a much broader community. In the first 10 weeks of the clinic there have been 12,050 presentations—approximately 8,000 GP presentations and 4,000 allied health presentations. I am also pleased to be able to advise the House that a female GP is due to start at the clinic next week, another first for the community of Ballan.

At six other sites—Bendigo, Southern Lake Macquarie, Palmerston, Devonport, Blue Mountains and Warnervale—there are early services being provided to the community. I know the member for Bendigo will be particularly pleased that the interim services have commenced in Bendigo, where the existing Monash University primary care centre is transitioning to become the Bendigo GP superclinic. Preparation for construction is underway and the following new activities have been introduced as part of the transition plan. A mental health program with two weekly sessions by mental health nurses and mental health workers for new and existing patients is being provided as part of that early service delivery, and a training program for practice nurses to commence upskilling in chronic disease management and women’s health. At Palmerston, the federal member has been delighted that the after-hours service provided there has seen 9,000 patients visit since it opened last December, with 92 per cent of patients being treated at the clinic, reducing by that significant number those who otherwise have to travel and present at the emergency department at Royal Darwin Hospital.

Twenty-eight contracts have now been signed. Every single contract includes, of course, general practitioners. Ten of these contracts have local divisions of GPs as active partners and 22 of these contracts have university involvement. That means that the superclinics are not only providing vital services, like those in Ballan and Palmerston and increasingly in Bendigo, but are also playing an important role as active participants in training and teaching the next generation of our health professionals, working in communities that have been underserviced for many, many years. This is good news for those communities and shows that our commitment to health, particularly through the GP superclinic strategy, is paying off for those communities. It is good news to report to the House.

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