Page 1998 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 7 June 2017
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MS CODY: Can the Minister for Health outline how expanding the ACT government’s groundbreaking initiative of establishing walk-in centres will deliver more care in the community?
MS FITZHARRIS: I thank Ms Cody for drawing attention to our nurse walk-in centres. This is a model unique in Australia but which has been taken up by other jurisdictions. Our budget announcement of expanding the walk-in centres will provide more Canberrans with a fast and free alternative to health care for less serious conditions. Walk-in centres help to ease the pressure on primary healthcare services by providing alternatives. Conveniently located in the community, the centres will offer fast, free one-off care for minor injuries and illnesses on a no-appointment basis. They are open 365 days of the year, from 7.30 in the morning till 10 o’clock every night, every day of the year.
Walk-in centres can help keep people out of hospitals. They will deliver additional community healthcare services to Canberrans and provide better care both when and where people need it. That is why we are rolling them out in our regions.
In mid-2014, two new walk-in centres were opened in Belconnen and Tuggeranong, collocated with the community health centres. They have met increasing demand for conveniently located health services while helping to reduce pressures in other parts of the system.
Following on from our election commitments, the budget commits to new centres in Gungahlin and Weston Creek and planning for a new centre in the inner north. Members for Yerrabi will also be excited to learn that the construction of the Gungahlin health centre will start and that the walk-in centre will open its doors in 2018. The reason we can proceed with this one first is its potential to be collocated with the existing community health centre in Gungahlin.
A comprehensive site and service options assessment will be undertaken for the walk-in centre in the Weston Creek region, providing healthcare services to the growing community of Weston Creek to Molonglo and of course the Woden Valley. We will continue to talk with the community on the location of the new Weston Creek region walk-in centre and we look forward to those conversations. (Time expired.)
MS ORR: Minister, how will you be supplementing the care that is available in the community through additional support for bulk-billing?
MS FITZHARRIS: As we have seen right across the country, an incredibly important issue for the community is affordability of health care and a commitment to the premise of Medicare, which underpins an affordable and accessible healthcare system for all Australians. Our work with general practitioners and allied health professionals means that we know that they often offer the first point of contact for health care.
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