The gatekeeper alliance in charge of allocating federal funding to local non-for-profit groups has said it will assess a new application by the Peel Health Hub for front-end staff.
The WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) agreed to meet GP Down South on October 24 to discuss funding for Peel's landmark health clinic after staff told the Mandurah Mail they were "under the pump" and worried young people would "fall through the cracks" if they did not employ more staff.
GP Down South representative Eleanor Britton said the nine organisations located at the Hub on Allnutt Street had seen an increase in clientele, some as much as 40 per cent, since they moved to the building in November 2018.
Though the increase in clients was positive, Ms Britton said the organisations were not "working together seamlessly" and ensuring each client was given all the help they need, as promised in the Hub model.
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Ms Britton said the meeting with WAPHA was "positive" and she was hopeful the Hub would receive funding soon.
"We had a positive meeting with WAPHA to discuss the need for a care coordination team at the Peel Health Hub, a front-end service that would provide immediate treatment and support for clients," she said.
"WAPHA have asked for further information around our proposed model, and once they receive that response, they will assess our full request at their next fortnightly commissioning meeting.
"We are making progress and hopefully will soon have a positive outcome for all the services in the Peel Health Hub and importantly for the clients who seek our support."
WAPHA general manager of commissioned services Mark Cockayne said the meeting was "positive and useful".
"The needs identified by GP Down South were discussed in the context of WAPHA funding parameters for mental health," he said.
"It was agreed that GP Down South will provide a more-detailed business case for a funding trial.
"If successful, this will allow the proposed model to be tried, tested and evaluated."
Carla Hildebrandt
Journalist at the Mandurah Mail
Journalist at the Mandurah Mail
