The state government hopes to address regional Tasmania's GP shortage and staffing retention issues with the establishment of state-run, bulk-billed health care clinics.
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Premier Jeremy Rockliff said general practice and primary care service clinics would provide greater access to bulk-billing and better integration between general practitioners and other medical specialists.
"Our Government is committed to exploring ways in which we can work with the Australian Government, GPs, stakeholders and the community to deliver something truly innovative...[which is] general practice and primary care services in hard to staff areas of Tasmania that are run by the State, and which are fully integrated with Tasmania's public health and hospital system," Mr Rockliff said.
The move comes as another regional community in Tasmania is losing access to its bulk-billing GP.
The St Helens District Hospital Auxillary wrote a letter to Premier Jeremy Rockliff of the issues associated with the loss, which was raised in parliament on Tuesday.
The GP surgery in St Helens will charge all patients, except DVA card holders, a flat fee of $72 up front for pensioners, who will receive a $32.99 Medicare rebate.
The Auxillary suggested that the additional medical costs would be hard for a low-socio-economic municipality, and that the St Helens District Hospital would face higher workloads with non-urgent medical presentations.
Mr Rockliff said the government acknowledged the important role that GPs and the primary health care sector palys in caring for our community.
"While the Federal Government is predominantly responsible for funding GPs and primary care, the Tasmanian Government has been making a number of investments into community-based care," he said.
"I have raised the issue of support for our Primary Hatlh care providers with the Federal Government and I will continue to raise with my federal colleages for additional support for this vital sector."
Mr Rockliff said the government will work with the Federal Goverment to explore ways in which GP clinic trials can be sustainable, effective and patient focused to meet community needs.
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