Urgent Care Initiatives
The Australian and New South Wales Government’s are funding more options to see a healthcare professional when they have an urgent, but not life-threatening, need for care.
Over the past decade, emergency department presentations across Australia have continued to increase. This, coupled with the pandemic impact on workforce and reduced access to primary and specialty care, has resulted in significant challenges for the NSW health system. In 2020-21, there were 8.8 million presentations to ED in Australia; of these 4.1 million were non-urgent or semi-urgent – 47%.
To ease pressures on emergency departments and improve access to urgent care options for the community, the Australian Government has committed to delivering 50 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics (UCC), 14 of which will be in NSW. In addition, the NSW Premier the Hon. Dominic Perrottet MP has announced 25 Urgent Care Services to be delivered across the state.
The development of scope and location of these sites is currently in progress, though the North Coast has been identified as a priority region (Position Paper: The case for a needs-based approach to NSW Urgent Care Clinic allocations).
Learn more by visiting the pages below.
We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we live and work, the Bundjalung, Arakwal, Yaegl, Gumbaynggirr, Githabul, Dunghutti and Birpai Nations, and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to elders past, present and future.
