The Nurse Practitioner Primary Care Pilot will fund six nurse practitioners over the next year to diagnose and treat a wide range of health conditions in the community, helping ease pressure on emergency departments.
The nurse practitioner service will be free of charge for patients and will increase the capacity of GP clinics and other primary care providers to see and treat more patients, providing appropriate care close to home.
Nurse practitioners can assess and diagnose patients, request and interpret tests, prescribe therapies and medications, and receive and make referrals to other health practitioners.
The locations for the new nurse practitioners will be decided after an expression of interest process and consultation, with four likely to be placed in metropolitan Adelaide and two based in key regional areas.
SA Health Acting Executive Director Integrated Care Systems Cassandra Ryan said the pilot would “give people more options when it comes to seeking advice and treatment for non-life-threatening healthcare".
“This will benefit patients as they can get support closer to home, while also supporting primary care providers by broadening their services,” Ms Ryan said.
“Along with the Adelaide Primary Health Network, we will be monitoring the impact this investment has on patient access to primary care.”
The $2.6 million pilot is being funding as part of the Federal Government's $10 million investment to develop new ways to improve primary care in South Australia.
The remainder of the funding has been used to expand the state’s Healthdirect services, with the introduction of the GP Extension Service and the Consumer Front Door.
The GP Extension Service is available 24/7 and connects people to a telehealth appointment with a GP for urgent medical assessment, particularly when they are unable to access a local GP appointment.
Since the service was introduced in July 2023, more than 4300 people have been connected to a GP telehealth appointment, with 87 per cent avoiding an ED presentation.
Introduced in October 2023, the Consumer Front Door service 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 and then, where required, connected to a face-to-face service for assessment, support and treatment.
It has triaged more than 1600 people, with 75 per cent avoiding a trip to the ED by having their care needs met through the SA Virtual Care Service, the Child and Adolescent Virtual Urgent Care Service or an 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.
