The Albanese Government has delivered on its $3.75 million election commitment to re-open the Minor Illness and Accident Centre at the Morayfield Health Hub in Queensland – and already the reopening of the centre is delivering for Queenslanders.
Since the doors re-opened in April, the centre’s doctors and nurses have provided more than 5,000 consultations.
Seventy per cent of patients presenting to the clinic have been triaged as category five and 29 per cent as category four, and early survey data indicate that more than 60 per cent of patients who visited the centre would have gone to their local emergency department if the centre wasn’t open.
The Centre is in addition to the Government’s commitment to open 58 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics (UCCs) across the country and offers an important and practical insight to support implementation.
The centre offers free, walk-in services for urgent, non-life threatening conditions, seven days a week from 8am to 8pm.
Quotes attributable to Minister Butler:
“The Albanese Government has delivered on our commitment to make it easier for people in the northern suburbs to see a doctor when they it.
“The Minor Illness and Accident Centre is a great example of how we can increase access to urgent care outside of hospital emergency departments.
“Local patients now have the option of avoiding a long wait in the emergency room and trusting the highly professional doctors and nurses at the centre to take care of their less serious conditions.
“As similar clinics open across the country under the Medicare UCC banner, we will begin to see pressure ease on hardworking emergency staff.”
