TOM MANN, HOST: Today the government's urgent care clinics are getting an expansion with the latest opening up in Whyalla. The aim of the clinics is to ease the pressure on emergency departments. For Whyalla government data has shown that more than half of presentations were either semi or non-urgent in the last financial year. To speak more on the opening Emma McBride is the Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health who is in Whyalla this morning. Good morning to you.
ASSISTANT MINISTER EMMA MCBRIDE: Tom, good to be with you.
MANN: Now, how was Whyalla identified as an area of need for this urgent care clinic?
MCBRIDE: For urgent care clinics, we're really determined to make sure that we bring urgent care closer to home for more Australians, and through the Primary Health Network and working with SA Health it was determined that Whyalla was a place that really could benefit from urgent care to reduce the pressure on Whyalla Hospital, which, as you mentioned, is a very busy hospital where almost one in two people presenting have semi-urgent or non-urgent conditions that could be seen in a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic.
MANN: Now, in terms of ensuring that the clinic is open and available for the times it needs, how many staff have been employed, including how many doctors specifically, to ensure it does service the community?
MCBRIDE: Tom, this is such an important question. We know that there is such demand for healthcare workers, including doctors, and I'm pleased to confirm through the Primary Health Network that ten doctors will be working out of the Medicare Urgent Care Clinic alongside three registered nurses and ten additional admin staff including two enrolled nurses, so a really good complement of workforce to make sure that this Medicare Urgent Care Clinic can be open seven days a week over extended hours so whenever people in the community need that care, it'll be available to them free and walk in.
MANN: And so for those unfamiliar, what are the overall purpose of these clinics?
MCBRIDE: The purpose of an urgent care clinic, and I'm a health worker who used to work in a regional hospital, is to reduce pressure on busy hospital emergency departments and to make sure that people can access urgent care close to home and for free backed by Medicare. If someone has a sprain, a fracture, a cut, a wound, an infection, a minor burn, they can avoid visiting the emergency department and go straight to an urgent care clinic without making an appointment, walk in and be fully bulk billed.
MANN: Now, you mentioned, you know, of course, these urgent care clinics are aiming at you know reducing the pressure on emergency departments and hoping to service more regional people. For South Australia there are in Whyalla and then in the south east of Mount Gambier these clinics so far. Are there any plans for further clinics to be built to service more particularly regional areas?
MCBRIDE: The government has committed to a network of 137 Medicare urgent care clinics across the country. This will be the ninth opened in South Australia and our goal is to bring urgent care closer to more Australians, and as the Assistant Minister responsible for rural and regional health, I will always push for more health services to be available to Australians particularly living outside of our major cities. I know as a health worker who worked in a regional hospital just how important primary care is in the community and I'm so proud to be part of a government that has introduced urgent care, that is now opening the ninth in South Australia and the 135th across the country.
MANN: Emma McBride is with me, Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health. We're speaking on the day of the opening of the new Whyalla Urgent Care Clinic. And I wanted to touch on some other health issues today. The Minister for Health, Mark Butler, will be outlining plans to make the NDIS more sustainable. We spoke about this a little bit earlier on in our programme. Is there a risk at all, do you see, of regional people losing their support systems with these cuts that are expected to be outlined today?
MCBRIDE: I know that through the NDIS, some people that I've heard from in my community in regional New South Wales and right across the country, have really benefited. NDIS support and NDIS packages are life-changing for Australians, particularly those living in rural or more regional Australia where those services have been hard to find before. So I am determined as part of the government to make sure that all Australians, particularly those living in the more rural or remote parts of Australia, get the support that they need. We know that there has been- that there is a pressure on the NDIS and we've seen unfortunately some NDIS providers or others not behave in the interest of NDIS participants. So I want to make sure that the NDIS works as it's intended to do, to give people choice and control, to make sure that wherever you live and whatever your circumstances, that you get the best support that is available to you so that you can live a thriving life.
MANN: But could any of these changes make accessing care harder for regional people?
MCBRIDE: Our intention is to make sure that regional people have the best access to care. It's part of why we're opening a network of urgent care clinics, why we're opening Medicare mental health centres, why we're expanding the headspace network and introducing Medicare Mental Health Check-In. I want to make sure, and our government intends to make sure, that all Australians, wherever they live, get quality care affordably and much closer to home.
MANN: And I wanted to touch upon one other story of the day. I'm sure you were involved in some of the conversations around the government taking on the costs for showering care residents instead of charging them $50 an hour. Why has this decision been reversed?
MCBRIDE: In respect to aged care, I live in a community, and I know in South Australia there are lots of older communities around Australia and we want to make sure that there is quality care available to all older Australians where they need it. I'll leave further comments around particular policy decisions or measures to the Minister for Aged Care, Sam Rae, or the Senior Minister for the Portfolio, Minister Mark Butler.
MANN: Well, thank you very much for your time this morning.
MCBRIDE: Good to be with you.