Super Clinic

Super Clinic opens months late
EMMA HOPE | July 05, 2011 12.01am

SOUTHERN Tasmania's first GP Super Clinic finally opened its doors yesterday -- but patients were unable to phone to make appointments as the number was not listed.

And the new Rosny centre, which was already five months behind its scheduled opening, began with a completely new staff after all the previous clinic's doctors took redundancies.

Royal Hobart Hospital spokeswoman Pene Snashall said phone calls to the old Rosny clinic were supposed to be diverted to the new clinic.

"There was an error with the diversion of the phone that has now been rectified," Ms Snashall said.

"There is a new number but patients won't have to know it for a while as the phone will continue to be diverted."

The $5.5 million Federal Government-funded Clarence GP Super Clinic is being run by the Independent Practitioners' Network, though the network does not list the new clinic on its official website and staff contacted at its other Tasmanian clinics had no information or contact number.

None of the doctors from the previous Rosny GP clinic are employed at the new GP Super Clinic.

Ms Snashall said it was their decision to take voluntary redundancies.

"Six or eight GPs were employed at the old clinic," she said.

"About a year ago we started discussions with them about what they might like to do.

"All the permanent members of staff were offered the opportunity to get a comparable job in the department or the other offer was that they could apply for a position with the new provider.

"They all chose to take a voluntary redundancy.

"It doesn't prevent them in the future from applying to the new provider.

"I think over time that logically that will happen.

"They've got that good local community knowledge about that cohort of patients. I think some of them will say 'we've had a bit of a break and now we'll go back'.

"There was one overseas-trained doctor who had a temporary contract that expired at the end of June and that contract was not renewed."

The GP Super Clinics were a 2007 election promise by federal Parliamentary Secretary for Community Services Julie Collins.

The Clarence clinic was about five months behind schedule opening.

GP Super Clinics are running in Devonport and Burnie.

Work on a $2.7 million Super Clinic at Sorell has not begun.

hopee@news.net.au