Page 4351 - Week 12 - Thursday, 24 October 2019
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MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Ms Cody for her question, her gratuitous compliment and her interest in our walk-in centres across our city. There are currently three walk-in centres—or WiCs as they are affectionately known by Canberra Health Services and Health Directorate staff—in Belconnen, Gungahlin and Tuggeranong. The walk-in centres continue to be a stand-out success for the ACT as evidenced by the numbers of presentations as well as what I hear from members of the community in their feedback.
Open from 7.30 am until 10 pm every day of the year, walk-in centres provide local, fast and, importantly for many of the most vulnerable in our community, free access to health care for one-off issues. The three centres are well visited with a fourth centre due to open at Weston Creek in December and next year the network will expand further with a fifth centre in the inner north.
In 2018-19 there were more than 61,000 presentations across the three existing centres, noting that Gungahlin only opened in September 2018. At the same time category 5 presentations at our emergency departments fell by 10 per cent. Correlation may not be proof of causation, but anecdotal evidence certainly suggests that Canberrans are attending walk-in centres as an alternative to the ED.
Presentations to the walk-in centres continue to increase with the busiest weeks seen to date occurring in August and September 2019 with 1400 presentations a week across the three centres. The level of presentations at our walk-in centres is an outstanding vote of confidence by ACT consumers in the excellent, accessible care and treatment provided by the expertly skilled nurses at the centres, and it also provides welcome relief to our busy emergency departments.
I encourage all Canberrans to download the ACT Health app, which provides real-time average wait times for both the walk-in centres and Canberra Hospital and Calvary emergency departments, helping consumers get the right health care when and where they need it.
MS CODY: Minister, how is construction going on the grouse Weston Creek walk-in centre?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Ms Cody for her supplementary question and her particular interest in health infrastructure in Weston Creek, in her electorate of Murrumbidgee.
I share Ms Cody’s excitement in regard to the upcoming opening of the Weston Creek walk-in centre, which is due to open in mid-December this year. As I have said, this will be Canberra’s fourth walk-in centre and will provide the community in Weston Creek, Molonglo and Woden Valley access to more convenient care for minor injuries and illness. The location of the new Weston Creek walk-in centre, adjacent to Cooleman Court, will ensure the provision of local, fast and free access to health care for one-off issues for the local community, who would otherwise need to travel to the walk-in centres in Tuggeranong, Belconnen or Gungahlin, or perhaps even visit the emergency department at Canberra Hospital.
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