URGENT CARE CLINICS
889. Hon MARTIN ALDRIDGE to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Minister for Health:
I refer to the minister's
media statement of 19 August 2018 titled, ''Health care options to be
expanded through GP Urgent Care Clinics''.
(1) What is the breakdown of the
total cost of the 18-month pilot, including the review?
(2) What role will the WA Primary Health Alliance
play in delivery of the pilot and what is the cost of its services?
(3) Will all
patients who visit an urgent care clinic be bulk-billed as promised by Labor at
the 2017 election?
(4) Will the minister please table
the business case for the pilot?
The PRESIDENT: I must say a very
happy birthday to Hon Alanna Clohesy. I am sure she is feeling 21 again!
Hon
ALANNA CLOHESY replied:
Twenty-one today! Thank you, Madam President.
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. I am advised the following.
(1) A total of $2
million has been committed by the McGowan government towards a public awareness
campaign establishing urgent care clinics across the community. The costs to
date incurred by the Department of Health and WAPHA and the cost of the review
will be met from existing operational budgets.
(2) The
Department of Health has partnered with the WA Primary Health Alliance to
develop the general practitioner urgent care clinic network, and establish a network
of GP practices that will offer urgent care appointments in their schedules to
allow patients to access appropriate care. The WA Primary Health Alliance is
not charging the Department of Health for its participation.
(3) The GP urgent
care clinic network initiative will include both bulk-billing and mixed billing
practices. People will be able to search the GP urgent care directory by time
of appointment, distance, location and billing method to make a decision on
which practice to book that suits their needs. Individual practice billing
arrangements will be shown on the website to inform that decision.
(4) The urgent
care clinic network is a McGowan government election commitment. Although a significant
amount of work and consultation has been undertaken to establish the UCC
network pilot, a business case was not required.