Page 1627 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 1 April 2009
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issue in the relationship between a consumer or a patient and their medical practitioner.
Ms Hunter will be speaking specifically about the impact the closure of the Kippax family practice has had on its local community. I, in the meantime, would like to address a few issues about the closure of centres generally. Firstly I would like to acknowledge the role the Health Services Commissioner has taken in ensuring that medical practices are aware of legislation regarding consumers’ health records when a practice closes and I understand that the Health Services Commissioner has been assisting consumers in obtaining their records.
One of the main reasons why we are seeing the closure of smaller medical practices is the federal government funding and incentive model for GPs. This model has very much lent itself to the conglomeration of GPs in larger sized medical practices. There are things that we can do around the edge and there are also actions we can take in the short to medium term such as progressing access to nurse practitioners and community health centre initiatives. The Greens would very much like to see these incentives brought on line in a timely manner and call on the government to do that.
But to address this problem in the long term, we really do need to tackle it on a national level, by a forum such as the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission and through the Australian Health Ministers Advisory Committee. According specifically to the commission’s terms of reference, by June 2009 the commission will report on a long-term health reform plan to provide sustainable improvements in the performance of the health system, which will include addressing the need to improve frontline care, to better promote healthy lifestyles and prevent and intervene early in chronic illness.
We may, as a result of the commission’s work, see shifts in the funding and management of primary health care. I believe a number of community organisations see this as a chance to make a positive shift and are highly engaged in the debate. Addressing the issue through AHMAC also places it directly in a forum where health ministers and their representatives discuss issues of national importance, which access to GPs and the closure of practices is.
The health committee does of course intend to look at the issue of primary health care, and the government has announced the GP task force. The health committee is yet to determine its terms of reference but I note the GP task force has already committed to explore and recommend on legislative options to protect the rights of patients and the health workforce. So it is good to see the essence of this motion happening already. This is an issue of significant important to the ACT community and it is appropriate that it be examined through different ways, which gives all parties in the Assembly and, most importantly, members of the community a chance to have a say.
With regard to Mr Hanson’s amendment, which we did see just a few minutes ago, I really did not have a chance to discuss it with him or look at its substance but, just by looking at it now, the Greens would not support the amendment. Again, as I have already pointed out, I think it is entirely appropriate for legislative responses around a period of notice to be investigated and, again, I think it is appropriate that we be
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