A healthcare facility operated by The University of Queensland (UQ) in partnership with Queensland Health has won the Queensland General Practice of the Year Award.
Inala Primary Care (IPC), which is operated using an innovative patient-focused model of care was judged the winner of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) award in Perth at the weekend.
The recognition is a boost for UQ’s new GP Super Clinic ventures which will operate using a similar model of care to the award-winning facility.
The award recognises the outstanding work of general practices, with winners judged on commitment to ongoing quality improvements, the standard of facilities offered to patients and staff, and the services for the local community.
Chair of the RACGP Queensland Faculty Associate Professor Jane Smith said the IPC was "a model of outstanding general practice in the 21st century".
"The IPC provides vertically integrated health care and services. Revenue from bulk billing is reinvested in areas not covered by Medicare rebates and which would normally be out of reach to the economically and socially disadvantaged,” Associate Professor Smith said.
The UQ Faculty of Health Sciences Deputy Executive Dean (Academic), Professor Helen Chenery, congratulated the IPC team's expertise and innovation. The team is led by Professor Claire Jackson, Professor David Wilkinson and their colleagues in the School of Medicine.
"This is a hallmark achievement for IPC," Professor Chenery said.
"We are immensely proud of their efforts in integrating excellence in clinical service models with undergraduate and postgraduate student teaching and high impact research outcomes.
"This award truly reflects UQ’s commitment to learning, discovery and engagement and how the combination of these three missions results in outstanding community benefits."
UQ has received Federal Government funding for operation of Super Clinics at Ipswich and with community partners at Redcliffe.
IPC, which services a very large community in the southern Brisbane suburb of Inala, was established as a "not for profit" company in 2006, after UQ and Queensland Health recognised that a new model of operation and healthcare delivery was key to meeting future health needs.
The facility provides a wide range of services that respond to community needs in a way that supports patient access to those services. It offers multidisciplinary care across the lifespan of patients as well as chronic disease-focused activities.
Media inquiries: Faculty Communications Officer, Marlene McKendry - 0401 99 6847.
