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November 2022 Nov 2022
Posted November 08, 2022
The PHN was pleased to receive 23 NSW Urgent Care Services EOI’s in the Hunter New England and 13 NSW Urgent Care Services EOI’s on the Central Coast.
The NSW Urgent Care Services EOI’s are expected to be considered by the NSW Ministry of Health between now and mid-February 2023, when it is expected that the successful EOI’s will progress to the next phase.
On 30 August 2022 NSW Premier, the Hon. Dominic Perrottet MP announced 25 Urgent Care Services (UCS) for NSW.
The NSW approach of focusing on Urgent Care Services (UCS), rather than just Urgent Care Clinics allows flexibility in service delivery that is suited to the local context. NSW Health is striving to provide a bridge between Emergency Departments and Primary Care by providing Urgent Care Services that integrate with existing providers more effectively.
The aim of Urgent Care Services is to reduce the number of people presenting to emergency departments by addressing service gaps.
On behalf of NSW Health, and in partnership with Central Coast and Hunter New England Local Health Districts, the PHN is assisting with the coordination of the Expressions of Interest (EOI) process for Urgent Care Services in our region. EOI related decisions will be made by NSW Health.
The purpose of the EOI is to elicit interest from general practice and other service providers.
This is an exciting opportunity for general practice and other services as we gather ideas around potential solutions that will make a real impact in our communities. We’re keen to encourage you to submit an application and to give consideration to partnering with the PHN and LHD in the development of local collaborative models.
To participate in the EOI process please click on this link to download the Urgent Care Services EOI application form (to be used by general practice and other participating services).
This form provides further information around the EOI process and must be completed in full and returned to the PHN on urgentcare@thephn.com.au by the closing date of Friday 2 December.
This application form is an editable document with no upper word limit.
If you have questions, would like to talk through your ideas or are seeking parties to work with please send an email to our team on urgentcare@thephn.com.au
Thank you for your participation.
| Organisation and Location | Contact Name | Contact Details | Type of service or collaboration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethos Health - Newcastle | Chris Morton | Nick Mullen | cmorton@ethoshealth.com.au | nmullen@ethoshealth.com.au | Willing to partner with General Practice for Physiotherapy (musculoskeletal injury triage and care) |
| CXDX - Three Stripes - Region-wide | Andrew Sargeant | andrew.sargeant@threestripes.com.au | Point of Care Testing Services |
| Virtual Podiatrist, Central Coast | Damian Gough | damian@virtualpodiatrist.com.au | Partnering to provide Podiatry for an Urgent Care Clinic or Service, or as part of a stand-alone Urgent Care Allied Health Service |
NSW Health has released a briefing paper to answer frequently asked questions regarding Urgent Care Services.
The Industry Briefing held Monday 21st November can be viewed below:
| Parameter | Commonwealth Urgent Care Clinics | NSW Urgent Care Services |
|---|---|---|
| Setting | Based in existing accredited GP clinics and community health centres, in the same general areas as hospital EDs | Triage lines, clinics, rapid response hospital teams, patient home, virtual care |
| Service | Extending business hours, 7 days week non-life-threatening illnesses such as broken bones, wounds, minor burns, scrapes | Flexible - GP partnered service handling mild infections, fractures and burns. Extended hours |
| Patient fee | Free services (no out-of-pocket costs) | Patients, including those without a Medicare card, will not be charged |
| Location/s | Gosford, Wyong, Cessnock, Tamworth | Locations determined based on need and ED burden |
| Timeline | Operational progressively from 1 July 2023 | EOI distribution facilitated by PHN - Wednesday 9 November 2022 |
| EOI submissions to PHN - Friday 2 December 2022 | ||
| Applications to NSW Health - Friday 9 December 2022 |
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