Page 1802 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 4 June 2014
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on improving services for patients. New primary health networks will start operating from 1 July 2015. The federal government has announced that Medicare locals will continue to be funded until then to ensure continuity for individuals receiving services.
We look forward to the creation of primary health networks, which will work with local health providers and stakeholders to ensure that local services meet the needs of local people, including supporting individual general practices to encourage high-quality services. They will be responsible for improving patient outcomes in the ACT region and ensuring that services across the primary, community and specialist sectors align and work together in patients’ interests.
I applaud the work of the ACT Medicare Local. They have done a good job. They have had a significant challenge in navigating what on earth they were meant to do when these things were set up without any clear direction. They have done well to untangle that mess. They probably did so because of the goodwill of their members, the hard work of people like Rashmi Sharma and her staff, and the fact that we had a strong division of GPs from which that originated. I have every confidence that we will find greater strengths as we move towards the primary health network.
In the motion put forward by Mr Gentleman, there is a lot that I would be quite comfortable with and agree with. But there are a couple of points I do not agree with, particularly those expressing concern at the decision of the commonwealth government to cease funding for the Medicare locals from July 2015. As I have expressed, there is a new system taking over. It will be based on the recommendations of the Horvarth report. It is a more appropriate model. It is a better model. This is a national issue. This is not just about the ACT; this is a national issue. It is going to fix up a lot of problems nationally that do not necessarily exist in the ACT.
Secondly, the motion calls on the Speaker to write to the Prime Minister. I think that is not appropriate. I will be moving an amendment shortly just to express the intent of that. The amendment, which has been circulated, highlights the fact that the Medicare locals came out of the division of GPs, and it highlights the recommendations of the Horvarth report that found that the Medicare locals across Australia had delivered inconsistent outcomes, dispirited stakeholder engagement, poor network cohesion, and reduced sector influence. The report recommended that the government reinforce general practice as the cornerstone of integrated primary health care, and I agree. General practice is that cornerstone. It recommended that government establish new organisations.
My amendment also recognises that an important contribution has been made by Medicare locals and the hard work of their staff. There is no need to write to the Prime Minister. I support the new and improved networks that will be set up. I applaud much of the work that has been done by our Medicare locals. I move:
Omit all words after “That this Assembly”, substitute:
“(1) notes:
(a) Medicare Locals were set up in 2011 having transitioned from Divisions of General Practice;
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