Major opening hours fail with new urgent care clinics

Eleven federally funded urgent care clinics have opened in Queensland to take pressure off emergency departments, but there’s one big problem at most of them.

Only three of Queensland’s 11 urgent care clinics are open the full extended hours originally promised by Labor, with health staff shortages blamed for the failure.

The federal government has declared the opening of 58 after-hours bulk-billed GP clinics nationwide last year delivers on a key election commitment, despite only 14 of the facilities operating from 8am to 10pm seven days a week as pledged during the campaign.

Designed to ease pressure on hospital emergency departments, the walk-in Medicare clinics can treat urgent, but non-life-threatening, illnesses and injuries like viral infections and broken bones.

But analysis of the clinics has found only the Gold Coast, Toowoomba and Ipswich Medicare urgent care clinics are operating for at least those extended hours.

The Bundaberg clinic had the shortest opening period, operating from just 8am to 5pm weekdays and closed on weekends.

In Murrumba Downs, Northside and South Brisbane the clinics are open 8am to 8pm, while Rockhampton operates 8am to 5pm and Townsville from 11am to 9pm seven days a week.

Health Minister Mark Butler said more than 130,000 visits had been made to the clinics nationally since June last year, including about a third on weekends and one in five after 6pm.

He blamed health staff shortages for the reduced opening hours at many clinics.

“I’ve been quite open that a number of the clinics will take a little while to attract the workforce to ensure that they operate at every single hour that we’d like them to,” he said.

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler speaks while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese watches on.

“But in the meantime, we’re working very closely with local hospital systems and with the Primary Health Networks … to make sure that the opening hours do match the peak levels or peak demand at local hospital emergency departments.”

Mr Butler said similar clinics in New Zealand had been proven to reduce hospital presentations, but there was not yet comparable data for Australia.

“It’s very early days, many of these clinics have only been operating for weeks, or at most, months,” he said.

He said the Logan and Ipswich hospitals in Queensland had recorded a 10 and 25 per cent reduction in non-urgent or semi-urgent emergency department presentations respectively since urgent care clinics opened nearby.

Opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said hospital waiting times and ramping have “never been worse” despite promises the urgent care clinics would relieve pressure.

“The fact that 44 of the 58 are not open the promised hours of 8am-10pm and some don’t even have a doctor on staff proves that this is another broken promise,” she said.

Ms Ruston said the Coalition supported Australian being able to get easier and cheaper access to their doctor, which meant staff shortages must be fixed.

“The biggest issue that’s facing our healthcare sector at the moment is workforce, and the government’s failure to address this is making the current primary care crisis worse,” she said.

None of the 14 urgent care clinics in NSW is open the hours first promised by Labor, with regional areas the least likely to have extended opening times.

Originally published as Major opening hours fail with new urgent care clinics