Our two year anniversary

That opening was just before the global COVID-19 pandemic. Ambitious, aspirational and innovative Next Practice Deakin has been blessed with a fantastic team of clinicians that operate from the medical centre and an exemplary workforce committed to our purpose. The model of care at Next Practice Deakin has been founded on a composite of contemporary and progressive models of care from US, UK, New Zealand and Australia.

These are innovative and take a team-based approach–we are proud that the doctors are supported by a core team of registered nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacist, social worker and our patient advocates. Such approaches of team-based care are being recommended as the government considers health reform in Australia, and so we’re delighted to be pathfinders for Australian General Practice and have presented this model at several forums across Australia.

The innovative model of care is unique to Next Practice Deakin, but we’re also thrilled to be one of the early members of the Next Practice Network. A network characterised by an innovative and audacious goal of providing the best consumer experience on planet earth. Progress towards this goal has been acknowledged, with Next Practice coming second in the Australian Financial Review’s category of innovative healthcare organisations.

The two years at Next Practice Deakin have seen a number of milestones. Notable among these milestones are:

• Practice accreditation in December 2021
• Providing training and work experience to local students, nursing students, nurse practitioners, medical students from ANU and, most recently, being accredited to provide GP Registrar training
• Hosting visitors from across Australia and internationally to demonstrate our model of care, including the ACT Health Minister
• The successful recipient of ACT Government and Capital Health Networks comprehensive, integrated primary care grant: https://nextpracticehealth.com/.../comprehensive...
• The successful recipient of Capital Health Networks Social Worker in General Practice initiative: https://www.chnact.org.au/.../trial-of-social-workers-in.../
• Technology first–piloting of advanced tele-examination equipment allowing us to listen to hearts, and lungs, check ears, throats and conduct skin examinations all virtually
• One of four pilot sites to be able to access records of our patients with consent from ACT Health’s new single digital health record system

Having firmly set the foundations over the first two years, we look forward to broadening our service offerings over the forthcoming year. As we head towards the end of the year, we return to reflect on our purpose of making a positive difference in the lives of our patients and our community. We’re part of a global community and a humanitarian organisation at our core, and we believe no person should die from a preventable disease. Through our NextAid program proceeds from each private consultation are donated through UNICEF to sponsor a vaccination against Maternal Tetanus in Papua New Guinea. The Next Practice Community has donated over 100,000 vaccinations. Your appointment at Next Practice Deakin makes a big difference.