Qld hospital crisis: Federal ‘urgent care clinics’ to relieve pressure
As Queensland’s hospital emergency departments buckle under an influx of patients, an election promise by federal Labor is set to bring relief.
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Nearly a dozen “urgent care clinics” will be set up across Queensland in a bid to reduce pressure on the state’s buckling emergency departments.
The federal government has confirmed it will set up 11 urgent care clinics in Queensland, with the state receiving two more than expected — one each in Toowoomba and Townsville — following discussions between both levels of government.
It’s hoped the other clinics will be located in Bundaberg, Ipswich, Rockhampton, Cairns, Gold Coast, Redcliffe, Logan and one each in Brisbane’s north and south.
The clinics, promised by federal Labor at the 2022 election, will be bulk-billed and open for extended hours seven days a week.
Doctors and nurses at the clinics will treat conditions such as sprains, broken bones, stitches for cuts, wound care, minor burns, insect bites and minor ear and eye problems.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said the urgent care clinics, backed by $235m in funding at the October budget over four years, would offer thousands of Queenslanders with urgent but non-life-threatening conditions an alternative to long waits in emergency departments.
Queensland Health hospital performance data this week revealed the number of people heading to emergency departments for life-threatening illnesses had hit a two-year high in the final quarter of 2022.
There was a significant decrease in the number of people heading to the emergency department for “potentially serious” or “less urgent” ailments, with 94 per cent and 78 per cent of patients respectively able to be seen within the recommended time.
State Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the program would help ease pressure on busy emergency departments across Queensland, and complement the seven satellite hospitals being built.
“This is an important program that is going to help ease pressure on busy emergency departments right across the state,” she said.
“We know that in order to meet demand we need to seek new and innovative solutions and the Medicare urgent care clinics will play an important role in how the community accesses quality and affordable healthcare.”
Existing GPs will be called upon to apply for the multimillion-dollar grant to establish a bulk-billed after-hours clinic, with the federal government clear it was not looking to build new facilities.
Mr Butler, speaking in Adelaide this week, noted the government had made clear that “whatever the case” it expected the clinics to be delivered by 2023.
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