Page 638 - Week 02 - Thursday, 20 February 2020
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
acquaintances who have attended nurse-led walk-in-centres for treatment for matters like pneumonia. Somebody attended with their daughter, who was diagnosed as having pneumonia; she was able to receive a prescription for the right antibiotics from the nurse practitioner and then went to the GP the next day, who confirmed that she had received exactly the right diagnosis and the right kind of support. People have attended with a suspected ankle fracture or sprain, a very infected sore throat which it would have been absolutely inappropriate to not get treated, and a non-displaced fracture of the arm. There are a wide range of things that people in Canberra are getting treated for in our nurse-led walk-in-centres. Mrs Dunne continues to dismiss that as being unimportant, but for many thousands of Canberrans it is very important.
That is why the government opened another walk-in-centre in Gungahlin in September 2018 and opened the Weston Creek walk-in centre in December 2019. While Weston Creek has not even been open for a full quarter yet, I can inform the Assembly that the community has voted with its feet; it has seen over 2,000 presentations in its first month and a half of operation. The fifth centre in the network, the inner north walk-in centre, is expected to open in late August 2020. As a member for Kurrajong, I am particularly excited about the inner north walk-in-centre providing another choice of care closer to home for my own constituents—and yours, Madam Assistant Speaker Lee.
The government made this commitment to the community to offer another option to access quality health care because we understand that Canberrans trust our nurses and want services close to parking and close to public transport links that are open for long hours. Our walk-in centres offer free services on a no-appointment basis from 7.30 am to 10 pm seven days a week, including public holidays. That means that families with sick children, people who need a wound dressed or people who need attention to a minor injury can access care close to home when they need it.
We have heard incredibly positive feedback in relation to this from our own constituents and people who have come to the walk-in-centres. When we opened the nurse-led walk-in-centre at Weston Creek, we received feedback from Sky Smolenaais, who said:
We received some really lovely service that prevented us having to attend emergency, which was very helpful … It’s very reassuring to know that we have a service like this in the local area, particularly after hours and as a mother of young boys.
Sky was a local resident of Weston Creek who had attended a walk-in centre in a different part of town and was welcoming the opening in Weston Creek.
A constituent has written to me about his experience in a walk-in-centre and his appreciation for the excellent service that he received at Belconnen walk-in-centre. He wrote:
The professionalism and care exhibited by the nurse, Kirsten, and indeed by all the staff at the walk-in-centre who assisted me was a credit to the government. My injury was treated properly whereas I might have needed to wait much longer at a hospital emergency department. I thank the government for the excellent
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video