GP Task Force Discussion Paper

The GP Task Force has released the Discussion Paper (2.4Mb PDF) on the issues and challenges for General Practice and Primary Health Care.

If you would like a hard copy of the paper contact the Task Force Secretariat:
Email: gptaskforce@act.gov.au
Phone: 6205 0796



The Task Force is holding public forums at the following times and locations. These sessiona re open to all members of the community:

Civic
29 June 2009 at 2:30pm - 4:30pm
Room 8, Level 2, Griffin Centre
Genge Street, Canberra City, ACT

Tuggeranong
30 June 2009 at 6:00pm 8:00pm
Room 1, Tuggeranong Community Centre
245 Cowlishaw Street, Greenway, ACT

Belconnen
2 July 2009 at 6:00pm 8:00pm
Community Room, Belconnen Library
12 Chandler Street, Belconnen, ACT

Consumer Experiences and Expectations of General Practice in the ACT: A Snapshot 2009

The Health Care Consumers' Association (HCCA) is the peak consumer voice on health care in the ACT. Currently our organisation is supporting a consumer member of the ACT Government’s GP Task Force.

We want to know about your experiences and expectations of general practice in the ACT.

We have developed an on line survey so that we can get a better understanding of the consumer experiences and expectations of general practice in the ACT. We will use the results to advocate for consumers in the ACT. We will make the results of this survey publicly available and also share the results with the GP Task Force.

It will take about 10 minutes to complete the survey. Your responses are anonymous.

The GP Task Force was set up in April 2009 by the ACT Minister for Health, Katy Gallagher after several suburban general practices suddenly closed their doors. The ACT is suffering form a persistent shortage of general practitioners; we would need to recruit 60 full time GPs to satisfy demand. It is clear that we are not going to find 60 GPs overnight. The GP Task Force is investigating options and innovations for improving access to primary health care (ie, non hospital health care) in the ACT and will report back to the ACT Legislative Assembly in September.

If you wish to provide any documents which relate to the questions in this survey or which you consider may be of interest to HCCA, please send by either email (GPSnapshot@gmail.com), fax (02 6290 1662) or by mail to:

GP Snapshot
Health Care Consumers' Association
PO Box 717
MAWSON ACT 2607

Take the survey now

Quality Health Care Conversation

The Quality Health Care Conversation is a consultation on the proposed National Safety and Quality Framework.

The Canberra Consultation will be held on Friday 26 June (11am – 3pm ) at Olims Hotel, Braddon. HCCA is organising this workshop for the Canberra Community on behalf of the Commission and we strongly encourage you to attend. This is an excellent opportunity to provide feedback direct to the Commission.

The framework is designed to guide action to improve the safety and quality of the care provided in all health care settings over the next decade.

The proposed Framework was developed in consultation with consumers, clinicians, and health service managers. The Quality Health Care Conversation aims to engage with a wider audience and seek their feedback on the directions established in the proposed National Safety and Quality Framework. The Commission will use this feedback to prioritise the strategies listed in the discussion paper and to make recommendations for future action to improve the safety and quality of health care in Australia.

The Commission is very keen to hear your views on the proposed framework and the possible strategies listed in the Discussion Paper on achieving the directions established in the proposed National and Safety Quality Framework.

GP Task Force Consultation

HCCA are conducting an online survey get a snapshot of GP usage in the ACT and a snapshot of how health consumers would like things to be. The survey is almost finalised and includes questions that the Task Force is asking all GP clinics in the ACT.

The GP Task Force was set up in April 2009 after several suburban general practices suddenly closed their doors. The ACT is suffering form a persistent shortage of general practitioners; we would need to recruit 60 full time GPs to satisfy demand. It is clear that we are not going to find 60 GPs overnight. The health minister wants the GP Task Force to investigate GP workforce issues in Canberra.

The GP Task Force has been charged with the responsibility of investigating options and innovations for improving access to primary health care (non hospital health care) in the ACT. The Task Force will report back to the ACT Legislative Assembly in September.

The Health Care Consumers' Association is supporting a consumer member of the ACT Government’s GP Task Force. This has been Janne Graham. In Janne’s absence Ann Wentworth has taken on this role.

The results will form a strong component of our response to the GP Task Force discussion paper, soon to be released.