Urgent care clinics expanding GP scope of practice, health minister says
The Federal Government will eventually open 87 clinics at a cost of almost $600 million.
The Minister for Health and Aged Care has told doctors that his $580 million urgent care clinics are helping to expand the scope of GP practice.
Addressing the AMA annual conference on the Gold Coast, Mark Butler described the 63 clinics now open as a “key reform” to primary care.
Some 600,000 patients have presented to the clinics since they first opened their doors.
“We will fully evaluate the program, but you only have to speak to patients, as I do, and practitioners even briefly to recognise these clinics are making a difference,” Mr Butler said on Friday.
