The federal government has hit back at claims it sneakily scrapped the After Hours GP helpline. Source: AAP
THE government has hit back at claims it “sneakily” scrapped the After Hours GP helpline, saying funding will be redirected to a more efficient service.
LABOR has accused the government of abolishing the service in Tuesday’s budget without warning or an up-front announcement, suggesting the move could put pressure on hospital emergency departments.
Health Minister Sussan Ley has confirmed the helpline will be scrapped but says the money will be redirected, with GPs instead paid incentives to run their own after-hours services in a move aimed at cutting red tape. An independent review into after-hours care found the existing service was poorly used and may have resulted in unnecessary visits to emergency departments, she said. Under the existing scheme, calls to the helpline in most states and territories are first answered by Healthdirect Australia – a state and federal government-funded helpline manned by nurses. The call is then transferred to the After Hours GP helpline if needed. But from July 1, people who ring Healthdirect Australia will instead be referred to an after-hours GP in their local area, the government says. “There will be no reduction in funding for after-hours primary health care,” Ms Ley said in a statement on Friday. The independent review by Professor Claire Jackson said although the After Hours GP Helpline was set up to relieve after-hours pressure on regional and rural GPs and support GP continuity of care, there was limited evidence that this had occurred. It recommends that government funding of the helpline “not continue in its current form” beyond June 30, with funding reallocated to support local after-hours services instead. Labor health spokeswoman Catherine King said Labor introduced the GP helpline because many people could not access GPs after hours. “This ill-thought out move will leave hundreds of thousands of people needing after hours care with very few options,” she said.