GP Superclinics

Under National Health Reform, the Australian Government is working towards shifting health care services from hospital facilities to primary care settings.

Strong primary care services are essential to ensuring individuals and communities can access a range of health care services to assist them to prevent, and better manage chronic disease, and stay healthier and out of hospital.

The GP Super Clinics Program is key initiative that will improve primary care services.

The Government has provided funding to upgrade existing community-based health facilities and also to establish more than 60 GP Super Clinics across Australia, to improve access to primary care services.

In 2007-08, the Government invested $280.2 million to establish up to 36 GP Super Clinics. In 2010-11, the Government provided $370.2 million to establish additional new GP Super Clinics and also to upgrade and extend approximately 425 general practices, primary care and community health services, and Aboriginal Medical Services under the primary care infrastructure upgrades program.

Spotlight on:

Strathpine GP Super Clinic

What is a GP Super Clinic?

GP Super Clinics are medical facilities that support general practitioners, nurses, visiting medical specialists and allied health professionals to work together, generally in a single location, to deliver better health care to local communities.

Why are GP Super Clinics needed?

GP Super Clinics are necessary to build a stronger national primary care system with more focus on better coordination between general practitioners, allied health professionals, community health and other state and territory funded services.

In the GP Super Clinic setting, patients are cared for by health practitioners working together in a multidisciplinary team and those people with long-term complex, chronic health problems can be better managed with help from practitioners working collaboratively. The need for patients to travel to other health care facilities for treatment is also reduced.

GP Super Clinics will help to keep Australians well by contributing to the prevention of chronic disease with initiatives that promote healthy lifestyles, address risk factor and lifestyle modification and improve the early diagnosis of chronic health problems.

GP Super Clinics will support the training of future generations of Australia’s health and medical workforce.

Through links with universities and other health training organisations, GP Super Clinics are providing students with opportunities to work in community-based health care settings.

The National Health and Hospital Reform Commission Report (2009) and Building a 21st Century Primary Health Care System: Australia’s First Primary Health Care Strategy (2010) identified infrastructure as important to improving primary care services to address the challenges facing Australia’s health system, including:

the growing rate of chronic disease;
avoidable hospital admissions;
changes in treatment leading to patients needing greater and more complex care in the community; and
increasing demand for clinical placements and training facilities for primary health care students and health professionals.

Where will GP Super Clinics be located?

More than 60 GP Super Clinics will be established across Australia. The location of the Clinics are:

ACT: Canberra
NSW: Blacktown; Blue Mountains; Broken Hill; Coffs Harbour; Grafton; Gunnedah; Jindabyne; Lismore; Liverpool; Lower Hunter; North Central Coast; Nowra; Port Macquarie; Port Stephens; Queanbeyan; Riverina; Shellharbour; Southern Central Coast; Southern Lake Macquarie; and Tweed Heads
NT: Palmerston and Darwin
QLD: Brisbane Southside; Bundaberg; Caboolture; Cairns; Emerald; Gladstone; Gold Coast; Ipswich; Mackay; Mount Isa; Redcliffe; Strathpine; Sunshine Coast; Townsville; Townsville Northern Beaches; and Wynnum
SA: Modbury; Mt Barker; Noarlunga; Playford North; and Adelaide
TAS: Clarence; Devonport; and Burnie
VIC: Ballan; Bendigo; Berwick; Cobram; Geelong; Hume City; Portland; South Morang; Wallan; Western Melbourne; and Wodonga
WA: Cockburn; Karratha/West Pilbara; Midland; Northam; Rockingham; and Wanneroo

For more information on the status of each clinic visit: www.health.gov.au/gpsuperclinics

How are GP Super Clinics funded?

Under the GP Super Clinics Program, the Government has provided funding to allow for the establishment of over 60 clinics. Grants of between $1 million and up to $15 million are being provided through either competitive or direct funding arrangements to establish the GP Super Clinics. A mix of private, government and non-profit organisations will be funded.