Chances are you have been cared for by a nurse, and know what a difference they make for patients.

At Inala Primary Care, we invest in nurses, because we know that our patients often need more nursing time to assist with things like managing their long-term chronic diseases, parenting, and family planning. Health care doesn’t stop with a Medicare-funded consultation.

Did you know that nurse consultations are not funded by Medicare? The “Standard Whole Patient Equivalent”, or SWPE, is a formula that is used to determine funding for nurses in General Practice. This formula is based on the average health care needs of patients based solely on age and gender.

But Inala Primary Care serves a community that is anything but average. Our 5,300 active patients come from 119 different ethnicities. One third are from refugee backgrounds, 49% come from the lowest 10% of household incomes in Australia, and two-thirds are on pensions or have health care cards. With 37% on five or more medications they need support to stay well.  We bulk bill our services to ensure that high quality health care is accessible to everyone, but bulk billing only covers doctor’s time.  Much of the education, care coordination and even wound care offered by our nurses is something we are left to fund.

Our patients have often had difficult lives.  We are left to treat the end result of unaddressed social issues.  Medicare does not provide the complex care needed by the elderly, refugees, or people impacted by disability, poverty, and social isolation. Many cannot find the services, or navigate the health care system to have their needs addressed.

By providing extra nursing time to assist patients whose diverse needs fall outside of Medicare funded items, we know that we can help more patients achieve better health. Healthier patients means less pressure on our publicly funded Medicare system and public hospitals. That is a win for everyone.

At this busy time of year, when there are many worthy causes asking for your support, we appreciate your consideration in joining us in to raise funds for unrestricted nursing time for the patients who need it most.  Every gift makes a difference, because improving health is about more than seeing the GP.