Gilmore votes: Labor spruiks urgent care clinics in Batemans Bay

A couple of Labor heavyweights visited Batemans Bay on Tuesday to commit to building an urgent care clinic in the region which the local members say is experiencing a “full-blown healthcare crisis”.

Deputy Opposition Leader Richard Marles and the Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing Mark Butler were in Batemans Bay on Tuesday as the battle for Gilmore rolls on.

The two senior ministers were in the electorate with Labor’s Fiona Phillips to spruik their urgent care clinics which they are promising to set up in at least 50 locations across Australia – including Batemans Bay – if they’re elected on May 21.

Labor has indicated the urgent care clinics would be set up in existing GP surgeries and healthcare centres, be open seven days a week from 8am to 10pm, and the care to be bulk billed through Medicare.

Labor argues the $135 million four-year investment to establish this trial will relieve pressure on hospitals and free up nurses and doctors at hospital emergency departments.

John Francy has lived in the area for the last six years and told his experiences of trying to get access to health care on the South Coast.

Batemans Bay man John Francy telling reporters about his difficulties accessing health care. Picture: Supplied

“When I moved here I was quite surprised by the state of medical services and getting access to a GP,” he said.

“I had quite a bad cold that went on and on and on and I tried to get in and see a local doctor, but very few of the local practices were actually seeing new patients at all. I was able to get in a couple of weeks later, but two weeks is too long to wait.

“I injured my knee, same story. I had to go to Nowra to get my knee operated on and that’s a long way to travel for local people.”

Mr Butler described the urgent care clinics as a “practical and tangible” example of Labor’s “commitment to strengthen Medicare” while Mrs Phillips said they would go some way to addressing the region’s “healthcare crisis”.

Fiona Phillips and Mark Butler have pledged an urgent care clinic will be built in Batemans Bay if Labor is elected. Picture: Supplied

“We’re in the middle of a full-blown healthcare crisis here on the South Coast and we’ve been on the receiving end of cuts and neglect caused by Federal and State Liberal Governments for years,” Mrs Phillips said.

“It should be getting easier, not harder, to see a GP. But the out-of-pocket cost to see one is getting even higher, which is the last thing our community needs when we are already struggling with the cost of living.

“That’s why I’ve been fighting for better health services for everyone in our community, and I’m so pleased that if elected, an Albanese Labor Government will build an Urgent Care Clinic in Batemans Bay.

“This will make it easier for people to see a GP and increase access to bulk billing, so people don’t have to pay those out-of-pocket costs.”