Information as at August 2014
Location of GP Super Clinic
4 Clarence Street, Grafton, NSW 2460
Contact details
(02)6640 3600
Ochre Health website (Grafton GP Super Clinic)
Funding recipient
Ochre Health Foundation Limited
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Total Commonwealth funding
$5 million (GST exclusive)
Description of clinic
The Grafton GP Super Clinic is a new single storey building a short distance from the Grafton town centre and 3km from the Grafton Base Hospital. The GP Super Clinic is accessible by public transport (located across the road from a bus stop) and by road with 75 free car parking bays.
The clinic commenced operations on 17 October 2011.
Services
Multi-disciplinary care
The Grafton GP Super Clinic provides multidisciplinary, integrated services using publicly and privately funded health practitioners to allow the community of Grafton to access a wide range of medical and allied health professionals.
A range of services are provided on a full-time, sessional or visiting specialist arrangement through GPs (including a paediatric specialist and a GP specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology), nursing staff, a diabetes educator, a speech pathologist, an audiologist, an occupational therapist, an exercise physiologist, physiotherapists, a podiatrist, a sexual health counsellor, a mental health nurse, and a pharmacy.
These services include:
- General practice, including acute illness treatment and wound management
- Ongoing management of chronic disease utilising care plans and team care arrangements
- Home medication reviews and immunisations
- Physiotherapy and podiatry
- Sexual health counselling
- Diabetes education and exercise physiology
- Speech pathology and occupational therapy
- Audiometry services
- Mental health and paediatric services
- Pathology collection Top of page
These health providers also provide referrals to external clinicians and community/ support services that are currently not available at the Grafton GP Super Clinic but may be required for a patient's treatment.
The Grafton GP Super Clinic has also built a relationship with the Clarence Valley Intensive Family Based Services to provide support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families in the region.
Preventative activities
The GP Super Clinic has a commitment to early detection and prevention of chronic disease through identification of high risk patients. Current preventative activities include the following:
- Health assessments and periodic reviews
- 45-49 year old health checks
- Over 75 year old health assessments
- Healthy kids checks for children 3-7 years
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health assessments
- Go4Fun after school program for children 7-13 years
The Grafton GP Super Clinic will also provide disease specific clinics, supervised by a Chronic Disease Case Manager, including diabetes, vascular disease, pulmonary disease, and musculoskeletal rehabilitation clinics. A Diabetes Clinic, with a Diabetes Educator from the Community Health network, is running every week at the GP Super Clinic. The Diabetes Clinic and diabetes cycle of care are routine treatment models for diabetic patients presenting at the Grafton GP Super Clinic. The weekly clinics are supported by a monthly multi-disciplinary clinic focused on diabetes involving GPs, nurses and allied health professionals.
A monthly Cardio Vascular Clinic, , Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Clinic (every three months), and Sleep Apnea Clinic (fortnightly) are also run from the GP Super Clinic. Top of page
Health needs and priorities
Of particular concern in the Clarence Valley are the rates of Type 2 Diabetes, high cholesterol and asthma. For this reason, the Grafton GP Super Clinic will focus on developing a chronic disease system which is comprehensive and systematic whilst developing specific responses to these risk factors and chronic diseases through its multi-disciplinary clinics.
The multi-disciplinary clinic focusing on group treatment of patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus restarted in February 2013. This clinic will provide patients with team managed care and provide extra support for preventative treatment of their condition. Support is provided through group classes conducted by the dietician and exercise physiologist which incorporates a wide scope of education and group treatment around impacting positive lifestyle changes.
The Pen Computer Systems Clinical audit tool is also used by the GP Super Clinic to analyse the patient population and to generate recalls for at-risk groups and target patients with poor clinical indicators for multi-disciplinary clinics and management interventions.
Quality
The Grafton GP Super Clinic is accredited with the Australian General Practice Accreditation Limited (AGPAL), including being an accredited provider of Quality Improvement and Continuing Professional Development points. It is also an accredited GP training practice.
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Operating hours
Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm; Saturday 8am to 6pm.
Outside Grafton GP Super Clinic operating hours, calls are directed to the GP Super Clinic on call general practitioner.
"Drop in" services, where existing and new patients can access a GP without a pre booked appointment, have been made available at the Clinic from Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm, subject to availability.
Billing arrangements
Bulk billing of health services are at the discretion of the general practitioner but most elect to bulk bill patients under 16 years old, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, pensioners and health care card holders. Chronic Disease Management MBS items and chronic disease clinics, are bulk billed.
Home visits and visits to residential aged care facilities
General practitioners are available for home visits for incapacitated patients, and for visits to local residential aged care facilities supported by nurses and allied health professionals. General practitioners also have admitting rights to the Grafton Base Hospital, a 103 bed hospital with day surgery facilities, and provide daily rounds for their in-patients.
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Clinical training arrangements
The Grafton GP Super Clinic is hosting medical students from the University of Wollongong on 12 month placements. Medical students are provided with an office in close proximity to the clinical hub of the building providing access to nursing and procedural experiences and their supervising GP/ Medical Coordinator.
There is a large multi-purpose meeting room provided for teaching and learning in the GP Super Clinic as well as large consulting rooms for observation and team-treatment.
Since opening the Grafton GP Super Clinic there have been six medical students.
The Grafton GP Super Clinic is providing short-term clinical placements for nursing students from the University of Sydney, and has provided placements for allied health students from the following disciplines: physiotherapy, dietician and diabetes education, and anticipates providing placements in pharmacy and podiatry.
The Grafton GP Super Clinic has arranged with the Southern Cross University in Lismore to be a research site for suitable approved research.
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