Rescue on the cards for ACT clinic with ‘selfless’ GPs

A promised bailout for a fully bulk-billed clinic in the Australian Capital Territory has been described as a ‘vital’ move by a Canberra GP who trained there.
 
Interchange Health Co-operative (IHCO), which was placed into voluntary administration on 7 April, will resume services again ‘shortly’ its administrators announced last week, after an unnamed private operator stepped in.
 
No re-opening date has yet been confirmed by RSM Australia, the consulting firm appointed to oversee the administration process, who described the resumption of services as a ‘temporary’ but ‘important’ step.
 
Last week the Labor Party also pledged $3.8 million to help the clinic re-open its doors if it is re-elected.
 
Dr Emily Rushton, who spent two of her training years at IHCO in 2020 and 2021, described a rescue for the clinic as ‘an important move’.
 
‘IHCO fills a very specific gap in healthcare in Canberra in that they look after some of the most complex, vulnerable and difficult patient groups – so a huge number of people on opiate replacement therapy, a very large number of homeless people, and quite marginalised LGBTQIA+ people,’ she told newsGP.
 
‘That’s not a service that exists anywhere else, and it’s not a service that’s easily replicated in a private billing practice.
 
‘The service they offer really cannot be replaced, and it’s quite vital that they do get bailed out because there is nowhere else that can absorb that patient group.’
 
IHCO has operated in Tuggeranong, in the ACT’s south, as a bulk-billed GP and allied health clinic since 2019. According to its website, it charged an annual membership fee of $120 or $60 for patients with a healthcare card, and had around 4900 patients. 
 
Now a regional representative for the ACT on the RACGP NSW&ACT Faculty Council, Dr Rushton said the clinical work and patient demographic during her time at the clinic was challenging, but recalls ‘an incredibly good team of senior doctors and incredibly supportive supervisor’.
 
‘I absolutely take my hat off to the doctors that work there,’ she said.
 
‘They are some of the most dedicated and selfless doctors I’ve ever met in my career.’
 
Earlier this month, the clinic’s Board announced a ‘deeply difficult and disappointing decision’ to place it into voluntary administration, citing ‘intense pressure’ on its business model, along with recruitment issues.
 
While welcoming the rescue funding commitment, Dr Rushton said she remains unconvinced about the ongoing sustainability.

‘The real issue with the IHCO bailout funding is that it’s pledged over three years,’ she said.
 
‘What happens at the end of the three years? Are we just kicking this can down the road, and in three years’ time, they’ll be fighting for their life again?’
 
On 20 April, the Labor Party also pledged to fund three new fully bulk-billed clinics in the ACT if re-elected, with the Canberra Times reporting a commitment worth $14.3 million overall, including the $3.8 million for IHCO.
 
The extra $10.5 million would be used for three new fully bulk-billed general practices in the ACT, as well as to attract new GPs to the area, including reportedly using a ‘single employer model’.
 
Dr Rushton says the funding shows the challenges of maintaining a bulk-billed clinic in the Canberra area.
 
‘What’s not really getting conveyed is the reason prices are the way they are is that it’s incredibly expensive place to run a practice,’ she said.  
 
‘We’re competing with a relatively well-resourced health system for nurses, we’re competing with a very well-resourced public service for administrative staff.
 
‘We’ve got incredibly high rent and utility costs, much higher insurance costs than other places in the country, and we’re trying to pay all of those bills based on a Medicare rebate.
 
’It’s just not plausible without additional funding coming from somewhere else.’
 
Last week, RSM Australia issued a statement confirming a temporary return of patient services to IHCO.
 
‘We understand the significant impact the sudden closure of the IHCO has had on the community – among undertaking other urgent work with the support of former volunteer Board members and our skeleton staff of former employees, we have prioritised finding an immediate solution to resume IHCO services,’ RSM Partner Jonathon Colbran said.
 
‘The return of services, while temporary, is an important step forward in providing IHCO patients with continuity of care while we seek a permanent buyer for the clinic.’
 
The administrators said they had been working closely with the private operator, who signed a licence agreement a few days after the move into voluntary administration was announced.
 
‘Existing patients will be contacted directly by the operator regarding the return of services, including further details regarding booking appointments, in due course,’ they stated.
 
A spokesperson for the administrators said they had no further updates beyond that statement following a newsGP inquiry on Tuesday (22 April).
 
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