Roxon’s GP Super Clinic report card unhealthy if not terminal
After more than four years as the Minister for Health & Ageing, Nicola Roxon’s report card on the GP Super Clinics program is nothing to be proud of, and falls far short of the mark said Andrew Southcott, the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Primary Healthcare today.
“Since 2007 they have promised 64 GP Super Clinics, delivered only 19 of those, and been forced to scrap two in the process”
Nicola Roxon said it best herself on ABC Radio in December 2009:
“Well I think for the entire 35 of them, the deadline is late in 2011”
Unfortunately, the Minister’s self imposed deadline of ‘late 2011’ is disappearing quickly along with her credibility. Only half of the first 35 clinics promised are actually operational.
The GP Super Clinics program has been plagued by problems including construction delays and funding disputes as well as wide-spread criticism that it would damage existing local general practices.
“This is a government program that has lurched from one embarrassment to the next, and I’m sure the Minister will be quietly glad to see the back of it” said Andrew Southcott, referring to the Ministers recent change of responsibilities.
“Nicola Roxon could have stayed on to finish the job, but has handballed this debacle to her successor as an early Christmas present”
“The important question now is how the new Minister for Health will deal with the elephant in the living room.”
The Coalition have consistently maintained that GP Super Clinics were a waste of money, and it would have been more beneficial encouraging existing practices to expand.
Had the $650 million been divided evenly on providing infrastructure grants, over 7000 existing GP Practices around Australia would have received over $90,000 to expand their practice.
