1 week Ago By Damon Cronshaw
High demand for the bulk-billed urgent care clinics at Charlestown and Lake Haven has prompted the Albanese government to expand them. Login or signup to continue reading Health Minister Mark Butler announced the move in an election commitment on Tuesday morning. If Labor is re-elected, extra funding for the clinics is expected to enable them to employ a second doctor.
Mr Butler said the Charlestown and Lake Haven clinics were "some of the busiest in the country". "We're delivering more funding, so they can boost their capacity and see more patients at once," Mr Butler said. He said "only Labor will strengthen Medicare" with more urgent care clinics.
Shortland MP Pat Conroy said the Charlestown clinic had been "a game changer for our community". Mr Conroy said he knew many families who had used the clinic. Without it, they would have been "stuck waiting for hours at the John Hunter," he said.
Newcastle MP Sharon Claydon said the funding commitment was "a direct response to increasing demand" for the clinics. "With more resources and expanded capacity, these clinics will continue to complement our GP Access After Hours services, offering accessible care when it matters most." As of now, the government funds urgent care clinics with about $1.
2 million a year for one doctor, nurse, receptionist and running costs. Since the Charlestown clinic opened in November, it has treated 5100 patients - an average of about 50 people a day. The Lake Haven clinic on the Central Coast has treated more than 17,500 people since it opened - an average of about 45 people a day.
Patients wait an average of one to two hours at the clinics , but the wait can be less or more depending on demand. After long waits of several hours occurred at the Charlestown clinic, some patients faced being referred to hospitals such as John Hunter. The Charlestown clinic extended its operating hours from 8am-8pm to 8am-10pm in February.
Sachin Choudhary, who runs the Lake Haven clinic, said in January that funding a second doctor at existing urgent care clinics would make sense. "Two would be the limit. You don't want to overstaff them because then you are taking away from GP clinics in the area," he said.
He said a second doctor would not require an extra $1.2 million, but about $750,000 a year due to economies of scale. Some GPs believe federal funding would be better spent raising the Medicare rebate to ease cost pressures on clinics and patients.
The Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) said last month that urgent care clinics were "five times more expensive than a standard GP consult". "Their value in addressing Australia's patient care challenges remains unclear," an RACGP statement said. RACGP president Michael Wright cited an interim evaluation report on the clinics, released by the federal government, to question the funding.
"Urgent care clinics are an expensive model of care," Dr Wright said. He said the money could be "better and more efficiently delivered through existing general practices". However, the interim report said "patients appreciated avoiding extended waits in emergency departments and having access to bulk-billed care".
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