Community to help shape the future of cohealth General Practice services

The future of local healthcare will be shaped with community. 

cohealth will work with our communities in Collingwood, Fitzroy and Kensington to help co-design the future of local general practice services, with a clear focus on continuity of care and a stronger, more sustainable multidisciplinary model for the communities we serve. 

Today’s commitment from the Commonwealth Government to support the continuation of these services over the next 12 months, alongside cohealth’s additional $1.5 million co-contribution, is a welcome step to keep these services open. 

However, cohealth recognises that securing the long-term future of these General Practice services will require ongoing reform, partnership and support. 

The Independent Review provides a clear pathway to strengthen care into the future, highlighting that additional reform funding is critical to enabling the transition to a more sustainable, future-focused model of care while maintaining continuity of services. 

cohealth will continue advocating for the longer-term government investment and policy reform required to support sustainable, community-based healthcare. 

Board Chair Sam Sondhi said ensuring continuity of care for the clients and communities served by these clinics has been central to cohealth’s work and is an important step toward building a stronger and more sustainable future for local healthcare. 

“This reflects our longstanding advocacy for better funding and policy arrangements that better support people with complex health and social needs,” Mr Sondhi said. 

“As the Review found, change is needed to help build a more sustainable future for these services. Our focus is now on working with our communities, GPs, clinicians and staff to help shape a multidisciplinary model of care that meets the needs of the people who rely on and value these services every day.” 

We recognise the Independent Review identifies areas where cohealth needs to do better, and we are committed to strengthening both how care is delivered and how we engage with, support and communicate with our communities about that care. 

While the Board does not support all findings of the Review relating to governance and management, we recognise there are areas requiring further strengthening across governance, leadership and management and significant changes are already underway to address this. 

cohealth recognises that rebuilding trust and confidence must sit alongside the work of strengthening services and shaping their future. 

“We wish to acknowledge the real impact and uncertainty the past few months have had on our patients, communities and staff,” Mr Sondhi said.

“We are committed to spending time with our communities to acknowledge this directly and to listen carefully to what people have experienced. What we hear through this process will shape how we move forward and how we work differently into the future.” 

“Ensuring continued access to care for these vulnerable communities has always been, and remains, cohealth’s core focus,” Mr Sondhi said. 

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more information: media@cohealth.org.au

About cohealth: cohealth is a not-for-profit community health organisation that provides low-cost and free local health and support services including medical, dental, allied health, mental health, aged care and counselling, and many specialist health services in Melbourne’s CBD, inner-north and inner-west, and the east coast of Tasmania (Bicheno and Triabunna).