Are the New General Practitioner Plus Centers the Correct Government Response to a Lack of Pediatric After-hours Care for Parents?

Providing timely and appropriate primary health care after-hours is a major policy issue confronting many Western governments. Increasingly, consumers are seeking care from emergency departments, for health problems that would be better serviced by a primary care professional. Mindful of this issue both State and Federal government in Australia have established and funded General Practice Super Clinics to provide after-hours care in low socioeconomic areas for vulnerable populations. A key policy requirement of funding is the provision of after-hours care. This paper takes a case study of parents seeking afterhours, non-emergency care for their sick child. This study illustrates the way in which GP Super Clinics provide an appropriate response to this issue, but the analysis questions whether or not this can be achieved under the current arrangements.