Page 147 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 15 February 2012
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(d) the Government committed to reviewing the service after one year and released the independent evaluation of the walk-in centre in August 2011;
(e) based on that evaluation, the Minister for Health announced on 12 December 2011 that, if re-elected in 2012, her Government would establish nurse-led walk-in centres in Belconnen and Tuggeranong;
(f) funding for the existing centre at TCH has been provided by the Commonwealth until part way through financial year 2013-2014; and
(g) the ACT Government will take over funding in full from 2014-2015 and has accounted for this expense in the forward estimates; and
(2) calls on the Health Minister to:
(a) clarify what her nurse-led centre policy is and what it would cost in full; and
(b) explain how the walk-in centres would be funded over the four years given the Commonwealth funding finishes in 2013-2014.”.
The amendment notes that in the lead-up to the 2008 election the Labor Party committed to establishing three walk-in centres. That was the commitment, and we intend to deliver on that. Indeed, I believe over time, as the walk-in centre model is embedded in the community, we will examine future opportunities for further walk-in centres based on appropriate geographic location and suitable consultation with the necessary health professionals.
Since that time we have undertaken extensive consultation and negotiation with relevant stakeholders and professional bodies to develop an acceptable model. As Mr Hanson would be aware, this is a new model of care that has not altogether been embraced by some of the professional bodies that work in the health system. That consultation and negotiation is crucial to any successful expansion of the nurse-led walk-in centre.
In response to health professionals’ concerns, a walk-in centre was opened at the Canberra Hospital. As was said at the time, this was not the preferred location for the walk-in centre as these centres have been very successful in community-based settings, but in order to deal with some of the concerns of the professional bodies it was felt that the walk-in centre could get up and running at the Canberra Hospital site.
As part of that we committed to reviewing the service after one year and we have indeed released the independent evaluation of the walk-in centre in August 2011. Based on that evaluation and, I think, the extensive feedback that we have been provided by the community, I announced on 12 December that, if re-elected in 2012, we would establish nurse-led walk-in centres in Belconnen and Tuggeranong. We made some funding commitments around that, as outlined in our policy statement.
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