Two more state-support bulk billing clinics will open on the island, even as other primary care services are turned down for more funding.
Tasmania’s health minister has announced that two more state-funded bulk billing clinics will open, but in the same breath she also called out the federal government for its inaction on GP funding.
As part of an election promise, the Tasmanian Liberals pledged to open five new 100% bulk billing practices on the island, which has traditionally lagged behind the mainland when it comes to bulk billing rates.
Some of the funding has gone to revamping and outfitting existing clinics which have committed to universal bulk billing.
On Monday morning, state health minister Bridget Archer announced two more clinics – one which will be located in Bridport and one which will be located in southern Tasmania.
“Although primary healthcare is an Australian Government responsibility, we are stepping in to support general practices to deliver more bulk billed GP appointments around the state,” Ms Archer said.
“Two more TassieDoc clinics are now on the way, with each to provide 20,000 bulk-billed GP appointments per year to ensure regional Tasmanians can access the care they need, regardless of their ability to pay.
“… Our initiatives will help ensure Tasmanians get the right care at the right time, which will not only boost access to affordable healthcare, but also relieve pressure on our emergency departments.”
Tasmania’s state budget, which was released two weeks ago, cut the funding it had been supplying to Morton Group Medical Services to run mobile outreach clinics catering to patients who were homeless or living in community housing.
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It has since reinstated that funding, but only for a further 12 months.
Morton Group has run the service after-hours for many years but has been supported by the state government to run it during the day for the last two years.
“We put in for a grant to deliver some primary healthcare on behalf of the state government, and it effectively doubled our service offering by hours. But, proportionately, probably about two-thirds to three-quarters of our patient load, we see during the day,” clinic owner and GP Dr Robert Morton told The Medical Republic.
“[We] disproportionately [see] young women, children, and people who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander during the day program, so mums and bubs and mums with children are coming in a bit more than they would at night.
“It gets dark here in Tasmania about five o’clock in the winter.”
When the funding was cut, Dr Morton was told that primary health funding was a federal issue.
“We’ve had a reprieve from the state government, and they’ll fund us through this coming financial year, but they’ve made it very clear that this is interim funding and that it’s their expectation that the federal government steps up to support this cohort of people,” he said.
Dr Morton said that state-supported GP clinics, like the one opening in Bridport, will likely treat more patients than the Morton Group outreach clinic will treat.
“TassieDocs will serve a lot of people, and we’re really at the pointy end, I guess,” he said.
“There’s this huge need for access to primary healthcare in Tasmania, and the state has been stepping into what is traditionally the federal government’s responsibility. What we need to achieve is long-term, sustainable funding.”
Rural Doctors Association of Tasmania president Dr Ben Dodds told TMR there seemed to be an “acceptance” by the state government that investing in primary care would save money.
“They’re just reluctant to do so, because where do they stop?” he said.
“And, you know, things that I’ve spoken to them about before is, you know, it’s fine to invest in primary care, but what’s the strategy behind the investment?
“If it is just that the loudest, creakiest wheel gets money out of the government, or a particular electorate has some votes that need to be shored up, and that’s where the primary care investment goes – well, that’s not a particularly helpful strategy in the long term.”
