Mark Butler

So I think the interim evaluation demonstrates this is a really important addition to our healthcare system.

I think what ongoing evaluations will show is some ideas about how we can tweak the model rather than whether or not we should have it.

Well, my response to that is I see this very much as part of primary care.

I very deliberately designed this model to build out of general practice.

I remember being a junior health minister 15 years ago when we were rolling out GP super clinics, and one of the criticisms we had from the general practice community there was that we were building effectively taxpayer-funded clinics to compete with

with existing practices in particular communities so a big part of that lesson for me meant that what we've done in communities is gone out to existing general practices and said do you want to take your practice to a new level provide you some additional funding obviously you'll be able to continue to build medicare and that's the way we've done it 135 seem to be 137 established general practices

have said, we want to take our practice to a new level.

I don't see this in any way as disconnected from primary care.

It's been very, very successful.

Yeah, I very much want to see much better performance on continuity than those early evaluations show.

I mean, you've got to remember this is still not really even three years old, this model.

And over time, I think you'll see improvements in this area alongside the improvements we're making to our digital health system, including My Health Record.

I want to see really quite seamless continuity between an urgent care clinic, if someone goes there, often that's on the weekend, it's after hours.

It's when the general practice that they would usually go to is not available.

I want to make sure that there is a quick referral back, that their existing doctor is able to see very clearly what happened at the urgent care clinic and do any follow-up care.

I hear all the time a very good connection between

an urgent care clinic in a community and the general practice that the patient ordinarily goes to.

And I'm hearing more and more strong support for general practices in a community that's serviced by urgent care clinics.

The other point I'd make about that question, Priya, is

is that the alternative for so many of these patients to going to an urgent care clinic is not seeing their usual general practitioner, they tell us.