Professor Stephen Duckett to lead review of cohealth’s struggling GP clinics
The health policy expert will assess the community health service by looking into its Medicare billing, governance and finances.
Former health department secretary Professor Stephen Duckett will review the flailing healthcare non-profit cohealth, which almost closed its three GP practices this month.
The Federal Government spent $1.5 million to avert the closures, which would have meant about 20 GPs losing their jobs and 12,000 patients losing their GPs.
Minister for Health and Ageing Mark Butler said the cash would keep the doors open until July 2026 while a review scrutinised the service’s long-term future, focusing on its care model, Medicare billing, governance and finances.
On Friday, he announced that Professor Duckett, a frequent health policy commentator and an honorary enterprise professor at the University of Melbourne, would lead the review.
