GPs excluded as govt signs $7 million deal for nurse-led urgent care clinics
The government ignored calls for a tender process, says AMA ACT.
A Medicare urgent care centre contract worth $7.1 million has gone to five nurse-led walk-in clinics with no plans to recruit any GPs.
The ACT Government–funded clinics, staffed by nurses and nurse practitioners, treat around 300 Canberrans a day for minor ailments like gastroenteritis, respiratory infections and simple fractures.
On Wednesday, Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler confirmed the Federal Government had chosen them as part of its $135 million plan to establish 58 urgent care centres across Australia.
It follows an in-principle deal from earlier this year — except the original proposal suggested a single GP would start working part-time across the five clinics.
