Building a sustainable future for GP services

The proposed closure of GP services at cohealth’s Collingwood, Fitzroy and Kensington clinics caused significant uncertainty and distress for many clients, communities and staff.

We have written personally to clients and staff to recognise this impact, apologise, and commit to applying the lessons from this experience through the reforms and improvements underway.

We have heard how deeply people value these services for helping them stay healthy, well and connected, and how important it is to have confidence in their long-term future.

The Independent Review provides a clear pathway and a unique opportunity to secure the certainty of GP services at the Collingwood, Fitzroy and Kensington clinics by building a stronger, more sustainable multidisciplinary model of care.

The Review outlined recommendations for cohealth, the Commonwealth Government and the Victorian Government, recognising that securing the long-term future of these services will require coordinated commitment and action from all three parties.

We accept recommendations 10 – 13 that the Review identified for cohealth to implement.

The Review Panel found that realising the full opportunity and intent of the reforms and securing the long-term sustainability of GP services would take more than organisational improvements by cohealth alone.

The reforms require governments to act on the recommendations directed to them and support the reforms and funding requirements outlined in the Review.

The Review also provided important insights into governance, oversight and decision-making in relation to the GP services at the clinics.

It examined 5 per cent of cohealth’s operations (GP services at the three clinics) and some findings and conclusions were drawn from a limited-service context.

As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we are applying the lessons from the Review and undertaking an organisation-wide governance review to help ensure the improvements identified can be applied more broadly across cohealth.

Achieving outcomes for clients and communities will require a strong partnership and we are committed to collaborating with governments on an Implementation Plan to deliver the recommendations and reform pathway identified in the Review.

The plan will guide the actions needed to strengthen services, implement the Review’s recommendations and support the development of a sustainable multidisciplinary model of care for the clients and communities who rely on these clinics.

As part of our commitment to transparency and accountability, we will publicly report on our progress and implementation milestones through strengthened client and community engagement and regular website updates.

The cohealth Board