Despite boasting more than 100 patients within the first week of its opening, the first-of-its-kind nurse practitioner-run clinic in Brisbane has still garnered much criticism from the country's top medical bodies. Nevertheless, plans are underway to open a second SmartClinics sometime next year.

SmartClinics founder and chief executive Steven Dahl says that nurse practitioners at the clinic are able to treat minor illnesses, provide vaccinations and repeat prescriptions, provide screenings for breast, bowel, skin and cervical cancer, and perform basic health checks. 

However, doctors' groups, such as the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the Doctors Reform Society (DRS), feel the nurses are not sufficiently trained to deal with medical problems across the spectrum and it is unclear whether the nurses will recognise cases and problems that are outside their scope of practice. "As a clinic of nurse practitioners with limited general practitioner input, this is the exact opposite of the model of primary care that is needed to deal with the increasing complexity of community medical problems,” says DRS of Australia president Tracy Schrader.

The AMA president, Brisbane GP Steve Hambleton, believes that the success of the clinic thus far is based on its accessibility after hours. Nevertheless, doctors fear that nurse-run clinics may fragment the health system rather than provide consumers with better options. 

Dr. Schrader says that instead of providing nurse-led clinics, more should be done to incorporate the skills of nurse practitioners into general practices in order to optimise patients' quality of care and the nurses' professional environment. “The best use of nurse practitioners in areas where there are already GPs and other health professionals would be to see this service as part of a salaried general practice, with nurse practitioners working side by side with GPs and other health professionals, increasing the availability of care whilst optimising the opportunity for interaction of nurse practitioners, GPs, and others for the benefit of all patients.”