Primary and Integrated Care Unit (PaICU)

Our Purpose

“Building primary and integrated care for the community through teaching, research and service development”. 

Who are we?

We are GP clinician academics committed to contributing to the future of quality integrated primary care for South Western Sydney and beyond. The PaICU is a clinical academic unit funded by the South Western Sydney Local Health district. We partner closely with the South Western Sydney Primary Health Network and we are associated with the University of NSW through the Centre for Primary Healthcare and Equity and the School of Public Health and Community Medicine.  The PaICU grew from the Fairfield GP Unit which was founded in 1989. 

The unit has played an influential role in many of the central developments in Australian general practice including divisions of general practice, chronic disease care and extended primary care MBS items.  Since 2018 the unit has refocussed on its mission of “building primary and integrated care for the community through teaching, research and service development”. 

Teaching

After 30 years of training general practice registrar leaders the unit is taking a break while we establish our new clinical service.  We continue to teach in various UNSW undergraduate and graduate programs. 

Research

Unit members are involved in research integrating care between the emergency department, cancer care, early child development and general practice.  We are partners in large grants assessing

  • Quality Improvement Collaboratives as a tool for improving general practice,
  • Alcohol assessment in general practice
  • Cancer wellness.   

Service Development

The PaICU is establishing and evaluating a general practice clinical service for people with severe chronic mental illness based at the Fairfield Community Health Centre, Carramar.  We are enthusiastic about providing this service and testing models of care in an area of socioeconomic need and cultural diversity.  We place great emphasis on clinically and culturally appropriate care in general practice.