General Practice teams are funded to provide urgent primary care after hours, free of charge for any child under 13 years of age who is eligible for publicly funded health services, whether or not the child is enrolled with the contracted provider.
The purpose of the funding is to provide access for all children and their families in Canterbury to urgent primary care after hours, free of charge, while continuing to support continuity of care.
In this instance after hours means any time outside weekdays 8.00 am to 6.00 pm but within these hours for weekdays on which a public holiday falls. A call out and/or home visit is not necessarily expected to be free of charge given the high cost of providing such care.