The Albanese Labor Government has been exposed for its failure to deliver on its Urgent Care Clinic (UCC) rollout, with no evidence the clinics are reducing pressure on hospital emergency departments and not a single clinic in South Australia open for the extended hours Labor promised.
Labor has repeatedly claimed that UCCs would take pressure off hospital emergency departments by providing walk-in care for urgent but non-life-threatening conditions during extended opening hours – “every day of the year for a minimum of 14 hours (8am to 10pm).”[1]
However, the Government’s second interim evaluation report into UCCs has revealed: “There is no clear evidence that waiting times and the proportion of patients seen on time has changed for urgent-care-equivalent ED presentations as a result of the availability of Medicare UCCs.” (p.78)
At the same time, it has now been revealed that in South Australia – the Health Minister’s home state – not a single UCC was currently operating for the extended opening hours that were a core component of Labor’s original promise to patients.
Federal Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care Senator Anne Ruston said the Government’s own report confirmed Labor was not delivering what it promised Australians.
“We support Urgent Care Clinics because, when done right, they can provide timely care for urgent but non-life-threatening conditions like a broken arm, deep cut or serious infection,” Senator Ruston said.
“But it is shocking to see that in South Australia, not a single Urgent Care Clinic is open for those promised extended hours.
“This makes our state the worst performing state in the country when it comes to delivering the after-hours access that was meant to alleviate the pressure on emergency departments.
“It’s time for this Government to focus on delivering what it actually committed to patients – because right now, South Australians are being short-changed.”
South Australian Shadow Minister for Health and Wellbeing Heidi Girolamo MLC said that Labor had failed to address worsening workforce shortages across the state.
“We are now seeing the consequences of Labor’s mismanagement with clinics that cannot operate for the hours patients were promised because there simply aren’t enough GPs and nurses available to staff them,” Ms Girolamo said.
“Despite Labor’s promise that UCCs would reduce pressure on EDs, South Australia just experienced its worst year of ramping on record. Forget Peter Malinauskas’ promise to fix the ramping crisis, instead we now have a situation where hospitals are under more pressure than ever.
“This just highlights the joint health failures of both the federal and state Labor governments, which are harming South Australians’ access to urgent care.
“Only the Liberals have a plan to boost our healthcare workforce and ensure we have a strong pipeline of GPs here in South Australia for a better health system.”
ENDS
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