RACGP outlines vision for integrated urgent care

The RACGP has outlined its position on urgent care within Australia’s evolving healthcare landscape, with a focus on continuity and connection with patients’ usual general practices.
 
Its new position statement recognises urgent care as a ‘core part of general practice and sits within a GP’s scope of practice’, while setting out several areas where further work will help the model evolve.
 
Central to the statement is a call for nationally consistent, profession-led standards that support safe, high-quality care and ensure urgent care services are connected with the broader primary care system.
 
The RACGP says this should include clear clinical governance arrangements, effective communication between services and reliable transfer of information back to a patient’s usual GP or Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (ACCHO).
 
RACGP President Dr Michael Wright said the position statement is intended to help shape how urgent care evolves as part of a connected primary care system.
 
‘Urgent care is absolutely within the remit of the care that we provide in comprehensive general practice, and it’s really great to see the college having a clear position to support GP-led urgent care,’ he told newsGP.
 
‘With the emergence of new care pathways for urgent care, we want to make sure that care is high quality and supports the comprehensive care that general practice provides, without causing fragmentation.’
 
The college has been engaging with the Federal Government and key urgent care stakeholders on the development and implementation of nationally consistent standards, led by the profession.
 
These would help establish consistent expectations around clinical governance, supervision, escalation and communication between urgent care services and a patient’s usual general practice.
 
The position statement notes that urgent care clinics (UCCs) can improve timely access to care in some settings, but says their success also depends on how effectively they connect patients back into ongoing primary care.
 
‘Without strong integration with a patient’s usual general practice or ACCHO, UCCs may contribute to duplication of services, fragmented care and inefficiencies across the health system,’ it says.
 
A recent evaluation of UCCs found ‘reasonably strong evidence’ the clinics have reduced urgent care-style presentations at hospitals by up to 10%, however, just 65% of presentations included a handover back to the patient’s usual GP or practice. 
 
The RACGP says strengthening these links will be an important part of ensuring patients receive connected care rather than isolated episodes of treatment.
 
The statement also calls for flexible funding models that support urgent care across different settings, including existing general practices, ACCHOs and dedicated UCCs.
 
It recommends reforming MBS funding for after-hours care and updating the definition of the after-hours period to begin at 5.00 pm on weekdays and include all of Saturday.
 
The RACGP says this would give more general practices the capacity to provide urgent care to their own patients, alongside dedicated UCC services.
 
‘If more GPs and general practices are supported to deliver urgent care, patients will be able to access care from their usual GP, improving continuity of care and reducing demand on hospitals,’ the statement says.
 
The college is also examining evidence gaps in the evolving UCC model, including its cost-effectiveness, longer-term patient outcomes, impact on health inequities and effect on continuity of care.
 
Dr Wright said the aim is to ensure urgent care develops as an integrated part of primary care.
 
‘We also need to make sure that while the new clinics may not be in every community, urgent care remains a priority for every practice,’ he said.
 
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