In this month’s Better health, together video, WA Primary Health Alliance CEO, Learne Durrington sits down with the Hon Roger Cook MLA, Deputy Premier, Minister for Health and Mental Health to talk about the recently launched GP Urgent Care Network Pilot.
Part 1 – Why are GP Urgent Care Clinics critically important going forward?
Part 2 – What will the GP Urgent Care model look like?
Part 3 – Why is changing patient behaviour and choice so important?
Watch the full video
“Not all urgencies are emergencies” is the message of a public awareness campaign launched recently to signal the start of an 18-month GP Urgent Care Network Pilot that will see more than 125 GPs across Perth and in Bunbury taking the lead in providing urgent care
The GP Urgent Care Pilot is a partnership between the Department of Health (Western Australia) and WA Primary Health Alliance, with involvement from the Australian Medical Association (Western Australia) and the WA Faculty of the Royal Australian College of General Practice (RACGP).
It is an important component of the Western Australian State Government’s Putting Patients First Policy and will provide better integrated quality healthcare for patients close to where they live.
Many people – adults and children – who have an urgent but not life-threatening injury or illness go to an emergency department when they are not able to be seen by their regular general practitioner. The Sustainable Health Review noted about 190,000 of the 1 million attendances to the WA emergency departments in 2017-18 could have been potentially avoided with treatment in primary care.
Practices will be well equipped to deal with a range of injuries and illnesses, ranging from cuts needing stitches to muscle sprains, minor fractures, fever, stomach pain and infections. They will also have access to radiology and pathology, so patients can have all the relevant diagnostic tests organised easily and quickly.
Importantly, patients will be handed back to their regular GP, to ensure continuity of care.
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