Two urgent care clinics to be established in the Northern Territory

Anthony Albanese has announced that two new urgent care clinics will be established in the NT in a bid to ease the pressure on emergency departments and improve access for Indigenous Australians.

Anthony Albanese speaks to supporters during the Labor Day march in Brisbane on Monday. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

Anthony Albanese has said two new urgent care clinics will be established in the Northern Territory in a bid to ease the pressure on emergency departments and improve access to healthcare for Indigenous Australians.

The Urgent Care Clinics will be based in Palmerston and Alice Springs to provide bulk-billed medical care for urgent but non-life-threatening emergencies, and are scheduled to open by the middle of the year.

The two new UCCs, which are jointly funded by the federal and NT government, form part of a key election promise to roll out 50 clinics across the country to ease the strain on overwhelmed emergency departments.

Non-life-threatening cases currently make up 40 per cent of emergency department presentations in the NT.

The Prime Minister was in Darwin on Monday to make the announcement and officially open the $27m cyclotron facility at the Royal Darwin Hospital campus, which will produce ­radioisotopes used in PET scans locally for the first time.

“The Australian government is establishing more than 50 Medicare Urgent Care clinics across Australia to increase access to care and reduce pressure on our already overburdened hospitals,” Mr Albanese said.

“Providing accessible and affordable healthcare for all Australians is important to this government. These two new urgent care clinics will provide Territorians with more healthcare options, and provide reprieve for our hardworking health staff.

“The federal government is proud to join the Northern Territory government in officially opening the cyclotron, which will have an impact on many Territorians’ lives and provide more healthcare closer to home.”

The NT government is negotiating with the Palmerston GP Super Clinic in Darwin and the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress in Alice Springs to establish both UCCs this year.

Indigenous health has been at the forefront of fierce national debate over the proposed model for an Indigenous voice to parliament, with Peter Dutton and Alice Springs-based opposition Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price arguing that it won’t have a ­tangible impact.

NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said the measures were aimed at reducing pressure on the health system while also ensuring that Territorians didn’t have to travel interstate for scans.

“Urgent Care Clinics will be established in Alice Springs and Palmerston,” she said. “They will provide more options for patients and support our hardworking health staff.”

“I am proud that together with the federal government we have increased access to PET scans for Territorians.”