What is Primary Health Care?
Primary health care is usually the first contact you have with health professionals, for example, when you visit a General Practice (medical centre) and see a doctor or nurse. It is not hospital care but professional health care in the community where you and your family live and work. Your family doctor is also known as a General Practitioner (GP) - GPs and Practice Nurses provide most of your primary health care
Primary health care covers a broad range of out-of-hospital services, although not all of them are government-funded. It aims to improve the health of the people in communities by working with them through health improvement and preventative services, such as health education, disease prevention and screening.
Examples of Primary Health Care include the following:
- general practices
- pharmacy
- mobile nursing services
- maternity services
- family planning and sexual health services
- mental health services
- dentistry
Also included in primary health care are therpaies such as physiotherapy, chiropractic and osteopathy services. Chronic diseases, such as diabetes, are best managed by primary health care services so that complications c an be prevented or mitigted.
