KDHS medical service director Dr Ka Chun Tse, chief executive Anne McEvoy, and project clinical lead Cherie Hunter standing in the new clinic centre.
Photo by
Jemma Jones
A GP service is set to make Kyabram District Health Service a health hub for regional after-hours care.
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Addressing the need for urgent but non-life-threatening care, KDHS will launch a bulk-billed after-hours GP service on Wednesday, April 16 at 6pm.
The service will open on Wednesdays from 6pm to 9pm as of Wednesday, April 16, and then on weekends from 9am to 5pm from the first weekend May, aiming to address a high need for after-hours general practice in regional areas.
KDHS partnered with Murray Public Health Network to develop this service, aiming to ease pressure on regional emergency departments while improving care for local residents.
KDHS chief executive Anne McEvoy said Campaspe Shire was identified as an area with limited access to urgent after-hours primary health care services.
In the assessment undertaken by Murray PHN, it was found a “high level” of patients presenting to the Kyabram Urgent Care Centre were found to be semi-urgent or non-urgent.
"With no GP-led service available locally after hours, understandably people seeking care present at our urgent care centres and EDs,“ Ms McEvoy said.
“We want to provide another choice that aligns with the needs of our community, and strengthens our health system.”
The service aims to be the bridge for regional residents who need care urgently but it isn’t life threatening in Kyabram and surrounding towns such as Rushworth, Rochester and even Echuca.
KDHS director of medical services Dr Ka Chun Tse said this service would provide the right care for the community without having to wait over a weekend, while also de-clogging urgent care centres.
“Having this service should be a win — a win for the patient, and also for the urgent care centres and emergency departments in our region so they don’t use those resources for lower acuity patients,” he said.
Staff members pictured are registered nurse Janine Rofe, project support manager Emma Hunt, registered nurse Vicki Webb, client services Monica Falcone, Dr Ghaleb Jaber and project clinical lead Cherie Hunter.
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Contributed
However, KDHS project clinical lead Cherie Hunter said it was important to distinguish that the after-hours GP would not offer ongoing treatment like typical GP clinics.
“Our real aim is to see the patient, support the patient, give them intervention, care and treatment at that point, and support the patient to go back to their home and to their primary GP,” Ms Hunter said.
Ms Hunter explained that each shift would be staffed by a GP, a nurse and a receptionist, with the goal of seeing three patients per hour.
“We also understand financially, its a tough period at the moment, so bulk-billing patients is going to be the model — no out-of-pocket contributions by the patients,” she said.
The service is a trial run, with an allocated amount of funding to run the service, however, director of medical services Dr Tse said he was hopeful it would open the doors to expanding the funding to a yearly basis and, in turn, extend the service.
Murray PHN will be monitoring the service, consumer engagement, clinical outcomes, and also how the service alleviates stress from surrounding urgent care centres like GV Health and Echuca Regional Health.
“We are very grateful for the dedicated GPs and staff who have agreed to work with us on this innovative service, and to Murray PHN for providing us with the necessary funding and other supports,” Dr Tse said.
From April 16, the clinic will take walk-ins, with a booking system set to come in place for the following Wednesday sessions.
Information on the booking system once it goes live, will be available on the KDHS website at www.kyhealth.org.auhowever for this first clinic on April 16, walk-ins via the main entry at KDHS will be taken by reception within the consulting suites.
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