الفهرس 
INTRODUCTION and RATIONALOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Primary health care (PHC) is the front line of the health care system and usually the first levelof contact of individuals, the family and community with the national health system. It is scientifically sound, universally accessible and constitutes the basis for a continuing health care process. It provides comprehensive, coordinated and ongoing care by a suitably trained workforce comprised of multi-disciplinary teams supported by integrated referral systems.
Primary health care includes community development, health promotion, patient advocacy, illness prevention, and treatment and care of the sick (including supportive management of chronic disease, palliative and end of life care, and rehabilitation). Primary health care services are delivered in settings such as general practices, community health centres, Aboriginal community controlled health centres, and allied health practices.
Importantly, PHC supports and educates people in the community to better manage their chronic health conditions, improving their quality of life and reducing their risks of disease progression and complications. General practice is the cornerstone of successful primary health care, which underpins population health outcomes and is key to ensuring we have a high-quality, equitable and sustainable health system into the future. General Practitioners (GPs) are registeredspecialists in the discipline of general practice recognised by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. Practices in which GPs spend less than half of patient contact hours providing general practice care, as defined by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), are considered special interest clinics rather than general practices.