Two weeks after the Melbourne community health service announced it would have to slash GP services and there is still no clear solution in sight.
The Victorian and Australian governments have weighed into the financial crisis facing a community health service in Melbourne which has announced it will have to close some of its GP services by the end of the year.
The federal government has expressed “deep disappointment” and called on Cohealth to “reconsider its position”, while the Victorian government said it had written to federal health minister Mark Butler “advocating for an urgent solution to these issues”.
Two weeks ago the Cohealth group of non-profit primary healthcare clinic said it would stop providing the services by December. Its Collingwood clinic will shut its doors, and it will also stop delivering GP services at two other Melbourne sites, Fitzroy and Kensington.
It’s understood that the Footscray clinic will maintain GP services.
Cohealth CEO Nicole Bartholomeusz said at the time that the decision “reflects multiple, complex pressures including decades of underinvestment, ageing infrastructure, and a funding model that doesn’t match the reality of the need or the type of care that is required”.
“These compounding issues have made it impossible to sustain services that our communities rely on,” she said.
“We are funded for standard care, but we’re servicing extraordinary need.”
Cohealth has appealed to the federal government for support.
“Every day, our GPs are delivering complex, person-centred care and support for vulnerable Victorians who face some of the greatest barriers to health,” Ms Bartholomeusz said.
Doctors who work there were joined by peak bodies like the RACGP, the AMA Victoria, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation and the Doctors Reform Society in calling for a solution as well.
Yesterday The Medical Republic approached the federal and Victorian health ministers with the same two questions:
- Is the minister aware that services are being cut and one of Cohealth’s clinics are to be closed in December?
- Will the government be stepping in to help address the funding shortfall to ensure the service remains open and viable in the longer term, and why/why not?
A spokesperson for the federal government responded with this statement.
“The decision by Cohealth to close its GP clinics is deeply disappointing,” they said.
“We have requested the board reconsider its position. Since the announcement, the DoHDA, Victorian Department for Health and the local PHN have continued to meet with Cohealth, with the next meeting scheduled for 6 November.
“The Department expects Cohealth to provide detailed data and information to support discussion. Commonwealth officials have been in regular contact with Cohealth management on a near-daily basis since the announcement.”
The spokesperson said the DoHDA and North Western Melbourne PHN had met with Cohealth representatives “to identify possible solutions to improve financial sustainability, including through maximising MBS billing”.
“Clinics like Cohealth will be much better off from our government’s historic investment in bulk billing,” they said in the statement.
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“Not only will they receive additional funding when bulk billing every patient, GPs and practices that bulk bill all Medicare-eligible patients with an additional 12.5% incentive payment on the MBS benefit for eligible services.
“While general practices are private businesses that make their own operational decisions, the government encourages Cohealth to explore the financial and community benefits of participating in the new BBPIP.
“The government remains committed to ensuring that all Australians, particularly those who are most vulnerable, can continue to access high-quality, affordable primary care close to home.”
A Victorian government spokesperson issued this statement.
“Community health organisations play an important role and we continue to provide them with significant funding, investing $188 million last year alone to support the delivery of care across the state,” they said.
“We are focused on strengthening care across the system – through our public hospitals and community health partners – so every Victorian can get the care they need, close to home.
“The Commonwealth is responsible for Medicare rebates and primary care funding and the minister for health Mary-Anne Thomas has written to the federal health minister Mark Butler advocating for an urgent solution to these issues.”
