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

I thank the member for Kingston for her question because I know she, as a trained and qualified psychologist, knows the importance of primary care to the community and is a strong supporter of the government’s plans for a GP superclinic in her electorate and a new headspace site in her electorate. She, along with many others on this side of the House, knows that, if we care for people better in the community, we can reduce our rate of hospitalisations—which, unfortunately, in Australia are much higher than the OECD average. It is estimated that some nine per cent of hospitalisations are potentially preventable.

Obviously that is why the Prime Minister and I are focusing on moving more emphasis onto primary care and, as the House knows, released yesterday guidelines for the Medicare locals that will increase and improve coordination for primary healthcare service providers. I must say that we have been pleased with the reaction that we have had to this announcement, including from the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. The president, John Kolbe, said yesterday:

If fully utilised, Medicare Locals can vastly improve how health care is planned and delivered, directly impacting patient outcomes by ensuring increased access to treatment in more appropriate settings.

That is absolutely what we are trying to do.

At the same time as trying to coordinate primary care better, we are also investing in building new infrastructure across the country. So I am pleased to be able to inform the House that on Friday the member for Page is going to be turning the first sod for a GP superclinic to be constructed in Grafton. There will be five full-time GPs in this clinic, together with practice nurses and allied health professionals, pathology collection and pharmacy services.

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