Image: The Cygnet Family Practice team will soon be opening for longer on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays after receiving the Tasmanian Government Primary Care Support Grant for Urgent and After Hours. (PS)

The current national crisis of long wait times to see a doctor in general practice has led the State Government to seek new ways to provide timely care, beginning with much-needed health care reform.

Cygnet Family Practice Director and Nurse Practitioner Kerrie Duggan is excited for the practice to be named as one of the seven Tasmanian Primary Health providers to receive the Tasmanian Government Primary Care Support Grant for Urgent and After Hours.

Applicants were asked to provide innovative programs to increase access to health care, the Cygnet Family Practice service to be provided by nurse practitioners, paramedic practitioners and registered nurses.

The move to assist General Practices in providing after hours care follows both national and international models that have improved wait times for doctors and at hospitals.

In England, paramedics work in general practice with doctors and nurse practitioners while in New Zealand and the Australian Capital Territory, nurse practitioners and nurses manage urgent care centres to help people access care when they have minor illnesses and injuries to avoid the need of going to an emergency department.