South Australians now have more options for free primary health care, with an expanded team of highly-skilled nurse practitioners that can prescribe medication working in GP clinics across the state.
The two-year Nurse Practitioner Primary Care Pilot funds nurse practitioners in GP clinics to diagnose and treat a wide range of health conditions in the community, as part of a multi-disciplinary team approach to primary care.
Nurse practitioners can assess and diagnose patients, request and interpret tests, prescribe therapies and medications, and receive and make referrals to other health practitioners. Nurse practitioners have extensive post-graduate clinical experience and have completed mandatory prescribed education at a Masters level.
The nurse practitioner service is free of charge, giving people another avenue to receive care without needing to go to an ED.
The $2.6 million pilot is part of a $10 million Albanese Federal Labor Government investment to help South Australia develop new ways to improve access to primary care and reduce pressure on hospital emergency departments.
The Malinauskas Labor Government has partnered with the Adelaide Primary Health Network (APHN) to deliver this pilot in metropolitan Adelaide. Three primary health care nurse practitioners have already been placed - one in the west at the Old Port Road Medical and Dental Centre at Royal Park, one in the north at the Angle Vale Medical Centre and another at Reynella Family Care in the south.
The program has already improved health care access, with more than 1,450 patients seen by the new nurse practitioners in the past five months as they've been rolled out. This includes face-to-face appointments and telehealth consults, where patients accessed all their care requirements including prescriptions, x-rays, referrals and immunisations.
In addition, the nurse practitioner in Royal Park specialises in mental health care and has supported hospital avoidance and urgent clinical follow up for people in the community with mental health conditions.
A further two nurse practitioners will also be placed in regional South Australia with recruitment for roles at the Robe and Ceduna Medical Practices currently underway.
A Clinical Program Manager has also been appointed to provide mentorship and support, facilitate a community of practice for the nurse practitioners, and to improve patient outcomes and support the ongoing evaluation of the pilot.
The overall $10 million Federal funding package has also expanded South Australia's healthdirect services with the introduction of the GP Extension Service and the Consumer Front Door.
The GP Extension Service, combined with the existing afterhours service, connects people to a virtual GP 24/7 when they require urgent medical treatment or advice and are unable to access their usual GP.
Since the GP Extension service was introduced in July 2023, more than 5,300 people have been connected to a virtual GP appointment, with 85 per cent of callers provided with a safe alternative treatment option in the community, avoiding an ED presentation.
Introduced in October 2023, the Consumer Front Door through healthdirect is available to people with urgent, but non-life-threatening health care needs. Operating between 9am to 9pm daily, the caller is transferred to a South Australian based virtual care service for assessment and management and, when required, referred to a face-to-face service for further treatment.
This service has triaged more than 9,800 people to the SA Virtual Care Service, the Child and Adolescent Virtual Urgent Care Service, and the Virtual Women's Assessment Service, with 72 per cent avoiding a trip to the ED by having their care needs met by these virtual services or at another out-of-hospital service such as Priority Care Centres and Medicare Urgent Care Clinics.
South Australians can access these services by calling the free healthdirect hotline on 1800 022 222.
In December there were more than 13,000 patients presenting at metro emergency departments who were classified as Category 4 or 5 – a six per cent increase from November.
Boosting primary care options will help alleviate pressure on busy hospital emergency departments, with latest figures showing SA recorded its best December ramping result in three years.
Ambulances spent 3,411 hours ramped outside metro hospitals in December 2024, better than the December figures in both 2022 and 2023.
The past four months have each been better than the same time the year before.
Lyell McEwin Hospital continues to perform strongly since the Government opened 48 new beds at the hospital, with ramping down 45 per cent compared to the same time last year.
Ramping in December was more than 38 per cent better compared to July.
Full ramping data – including a hospital-by-hospital breakdown – can be found here.
As put by Chris Picton
We know it's harder and harder to get into and afford a GP and that is placing additional pressure on our hospital system.
These extra nurse practitioners will give South Australians more options to receive free primary health care from experienced nurses when they need it, closer to home.
Nurse practitioners are the most experienced of nurses – and can assess and diagnose patients, request and interpret tests, prescribe medications and make referrals to other health practitioners.
It's better for the patients themselves and also for our hospitals – keeping our EDs free for emergencies.
We are tackling ramping from every angle, introducing programs like this and building hundreds of extra hospital beds to create more capacity. It's pleasing to see our best December ramping result in three years but we know there is more work to do.
As put by SA Health Acting Executive Director of Integrated Care Systems Clinical System Support & Improvement, Cassandra Ryan
Nurse practitioners are highly trained and skilled nurses who already provide care for thousands of people in a range of health settings and services including EDs.
This program provides free nurse practitioner care in General Practices, which is helping more people to access high quality, timely health care for their chronic and complex care needs.
These combined services provide South Australians with more options to receive the accessible and affordable care they need and deserve, closer to home.
