Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Primary Healthcare) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the minister and it is on GP superclinics. Is the minister aware that the government's own director of the GP Super Clinics Program has said:

We've got clinics that are struggling …

The patients that are walking in the door are not the sort of patients that have the sort of chronic disease they think they should be focused on.

What discussions have the government had with the 11 operational GP superclinics about their patient loads with chronic disease? Also, the Department of Health and Ageing have said that they will only provide self-reported numbers of service presentations at an aggregated level. Given that the minister has released the numbers of services at Palmerston and at Strathpine in February this year, why can the department not release this information? Given that this information relates to only self-reported figures, why is it considered commercial-in-confidence? Why are the department only taking self-reported figures from the GP superclinics? Are the department checking or confirming the self-reported figures presented to them? Why are the department not undertaking more detailed analysis of the use or presentations at each GP superclinic, considering the size of the taxpayer contribution to this initiative? Given that the Townsville GP Superclinic, an existing practice, is described as 'offering early services,' what is the definition of 'early services' under the GP Super Clinics Program? Given that the minister promised, on 6 November 2007, a GP superclinic in Wanneroo, does the minister believe it is acceptable that this clinic will not be opened until late 2012? Can the minister advise what date the clinic will open and see a patient? Will it be in Wanneroo? And can the minister guarantee that no existing practice will be closed or folded into the superclinic?

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