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Australia to invest $3.3 M in New health care model for rural patients

18 November 2020 | News

The new primary health care model to improve access to local health care and provide better continuity of care for rural patients

Photo Credit: Freepik

Photo Credit: Freepik

The Australian communities of Tumut Tumbarumba, Batlow and Adelong will benefit from a new primary health care model to improve access to local health care and provide better continuity of care for rural patients.

Regional Health Minister, Mark Coulton said the Coalition Government is investing in first-of-a-kind primary care models as part of a broader effort to improve health outcomes for rural Australians.

The 2020-21 Budget invests $3.3 million in new models of primary care to help pioneer local solutions to team-based care and provide better healthcare services across sub-regions in western and southern NSW. 

“The trial of a new collaborative model of health care in these four communities aims to create more efficient and co-ordinated networks of GPs, nurses, and allied health professionals to deliver local services. Creating more flexible settings as part of this approach is an important step in creating a rural health workforce to service the needs of the region. This new model provided a further incentive for young doctors to come to the region and built on the recent Murrumbidgee Model for Rural Generalist GPs that was providing a training pipeline and improved support for young trainee GPs.” Minister Coulton said.

The new Snowy Valleys model will investigate if viable practices may be better sustained by having a team of GPs, nurses and allied health professionals deliver integrated health services to a number of smaller, connected communities.

“NSW Rural Doctors Network sees this Collaborative Care project as the start of a model that could hopefully be scaled-up to support similar sub-regional approaches in remote and rural areas across Australia. We look forward to starting work early in the new year,” said Mike Edwards, Director Service Delivery at NSW Rural Doctors Network (RDN).

The models are part of the Coalition Government’s broader primary care reforms including a 10-year plan to support patient centred care and equitable access to the best available primary health care services. Minister Coulton said rural and remote primary care is a key focus of the reforms.

The trial will last 18 months and is a practical solution developed with extensive community consultation and support.

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