Minister for Health and Aged Care, press conference – 5 December 2024

REBECCA WHITE, LABOR CANDIDATE FOR LYONS: Welcome to Bridgewater’s Urgent Care Clinic. This clinic opened on Monday, and it's a really excellent addition for services here for people in the northern suburbs. We know that so many people who can't get into their GP often present to the emergency department, which puts enormous pressure on our ambulance services and also our emergency department, people are waiting far too long for the treatment they need, and our health staff feeling overworked. Our Medicare Urgent Care Clinics provide an opportunity for people to access healthcare close to where they live. All you need is your Medicare card. And I've spoken to people just today who've used this service since it opened on Monday. A gentleman who I chatted to, Ian White today, who was here last night getting some stitches, he couldn't rave more about this service and how beneficial it's been for him. And I know that the broader community is going to get so much great service here, but also the great benefit of having access to healthcare close to where they live. This will benefit southern Midland, the Brighton and Huon Valley communities, as well as the northern suburbs. We are joined by the Minister for Health, Mark Butler, who I'll pass across to you now. He's going to talk more about not just this service, but broadly across the country, the benefit this is bringing to patients in Australia.
 
MARK BUTLER, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Thank you, Rebecca. I can't tell you how excited Federal Labor and the government are to have Rebecca as the Candidate for Lyons. We're tremendously excited about that. We feel greatly privileged that you've agreed to stick your hand up and run for federal Labor at the next election. Thanks for having us, and thank you, Mark and Jordan River Health for first of all sticking your hand up to be one of our network of Urgent Care Clinics, but also for hosting us today. And Julie Collins is here to take all the difficult questions as well. I'm here to deal with the easy ones.
 
Strengthening Medicare was one of our government's highest priorities when we came to government in 2022. We found a system that was really struggling after 10 years of cuts and neglect, particularly started by the Medicare rebate freeze that Peter Dutton initiated as Health Minister back in 2014 but also just the background demographics. We're an older population, we're getting sicker, and we've gone through a once-in-a-century pandemic, so strengthening Medicare was right at the top of our government's priorities. And two and a half years in, what we're seeing is more doctors, more bulk billing, and we're opening more Urgent Care Clinics. Sure things are still really tough in our healthcare system, as they are right around the world. It's tough to find a doctor, it's tough to find one that bulk bills, but what we have been doing over the last couple of years has started to make a real difference, including here in Tasmania.
 
I want to talk about a little bit about our Urgent Care Clinics program. This is a new model of care for Australia, something that is available for people seven days a week, on a fully bulk billed basis, for care that needs to be delivered urgently, but not necessarily in a fully equipped hospital emergency department. This clinic here is the 84th clinic that we have opened since we were elected to government. When we came to government, we promised 50 Urgent Care Clinics, we delivered 58 last year, and we've opened another couple of dozen this year, so that we're up to 84. Sometime this week, the one millionth patient will be seen in one of the Urgent Care Clinics operating across the country, including one of now five here in Tasmania. They are open seven days a week. They are open extended hours. They're available for walk in appointments, you don't need to schedule an appointment. And as I said, importantly, they are fully bulk billed. Every one of those 1 million patients that have gone through one of our clinics have been fully bulk billed. Not only is this delivering terrific quality care for people in their community close to where they live, we also know now it is starting to take pressure off our hospital emergency departments, that are feeling such pressure after the years of the COVID pandemic. I'm delighted that Jordan River Health has agreed to put itself forward as the 84th Medicare Urgent Care Clinic. I know it's going to make an enormous difference to the people of this community north of Hobart and beyond this town as well. Thank you very much, and I'll hand over to Mark.
 
DR MARK BALDOCK, MANAGING DIRECTOR GP COLLECTIVE: For those of you don't know me, I'm Mark Baldock. I'm the Managing Director of GP Collective, and Jordan River Health is one of our clinics. It's just a great, great pleasure that I welcome everyone here today, and particularly our distinguished guests. Thanks, Rebecca for coming. Thank you, Mark. Thank you Julie, it’s nice to see you again. We've had some experience opening the Hobart Urgent Care Clinic. I'm a great believer in the urgent care model. Medicare Urgent Care Clinics provide a vital service, in my opinion, offering Medicare for illness or injuries that can be managed without a trip to the emergency department, but cannot wait for a regular GP appointment. This simple yet powerful provision of healthcare is a true game changer for improving access to health service, particularly in communities like this one. For people of the greater northern suburbs of the Hobart and the southern Midlands of Tasmania, who have enormous challenges for distance and transport, and access to general practices, and access to emergency care services. Personally, on behalf of the GP Collective and Jordan River Health, I applaud both the state and federal governments for their support in making this service available to communities that would otherwise face long travel times. We're talking say, Julie, 30 minutes to the emergency department - 25-30 kilometres to the Royal Hobart - with extended wait periods to see to see a GP otherwise. And having an Urgent Care Clinic in this facility will not only enhance access to health care, but also contribute to better health outcomes and improve quality of life for our patients and members of our community.
 
This building represents much more than just health care. It's a symbol of resilience and hope. The community and government have fought hard to keep this facility open, recognising that it's a lifeline for those with no alternative. I was reminded today that almost 12 months ago, the carpark out there had 160 people in a chanting for support to stop this centre closing. It was it was on its knees. It was closing on December the 11th. We were shipping everything out. Nothing was going to be here. And today we celebrate not only the existence of the general practice, but an Urgent Care Clinic open seven days a week, potentially open 14 hours a day. Today's a celebration of success and resilience, it's wonderful. Thank you.
 
Today we celebrate not only a new chapter for health care in the region, but also the dedication and strength of this community. We at GP Collective have the experience, the expertise and the right team to lead this initiative. We know how to make this clinic work and thrive. With the addition of services like x-ray, physiotherapy, psychology, we're now offering comprehensive care in one location, which is an incredible benefit for all our patients. At GP Collective, our goal is simple, to enable people to live longer, healthier lives. The new Urgent Care Clinic at Bridgewater is a significant step forward in achieving this vision. Thank you all for taking the time to join us for the official opening of the Bridgewater Medicare Urgent Care Clinic. Thank you, Mark for taking time to come down and open this really appreciate it. Thank you, Julie. Thank you, Rebecca - good luck! Your presence here underscores the importance of this milestone for our community, and I'm excited for the positive impact this clinic will bring to the lives of so many, thank you.
 
JULIE COLLINS, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY, MINISTER FOR SMALL BUSINESS, MEMBER FOR FRANKIN: That was terrific, Mark. And I think what it shows is just how important this Urgent Care Clinic is. It's terrific to be here with our Lyons Candidate Rebecca White, who is of course our State Member for Labor. Minister Mark Butler. And of course Mark, who has opened two Urgent Care Clinics here now. We've heard from Mark about how important Urgent Care Clinics are. But what this Urgent Care Clinic represents is Labor's investment in strengthening Medicare, as you heard from Minister Butler.
 
Here in Tasmania, we have benefited more than any other state from strengthening Medicare. We've got more people going to Urgent Care Clinics. This is our fifth Urgent Care Clinic here in Tasmania, in Bridgewater. We've got more people accessing increased bulk billing than elsewhere in the country because of our tripling of the bulk billing incentive. We've got more people accessing cheaper medicines. This shows you how much the Labor Government was needed here in Tasmania to strengthen Medicare, because it was only Labor that was going to strengthen Medicare. What we saw from Peter Dutton and the Liberals was cuts to Medicare, and what we know, going forward, is Peter Dutton has committed to $315 billion in cuts to services like Urgent Care Clinics. Let's be really clear about the risk that Peter Dutton is to Tasmanians that require health care. Peter Dutton is a huge risk to Tasmanians, and it's terrific to be here today to celebrate how important this Urgent Care Clinic is for Tasmanians. Tasmanians are benefiting more than anywhere else in the country from Labor strengthening Medicare and from the Urgent Care Clinics. Thanks. Questions?

JOURNALIST: What is the reception been like to this service since it opened on Monday?  
 
BUTLER:  I'd ask Mark to talk about that. Rebecca has already talked about members of her community that she's engaged with. Can I just say, across the country that the feedback on these clinics has been terrific. I did a number of different Tasmania radio this morning. People ringing into the Tasmania radio were talking about positive experiences they'd had. About one in three of the patients going through the clinics are kids under the age of 15, and that really is a much higher number than I expected when we introduced this program. Parents are feeding back really positive experiences. Because if your kid falls off the skateboard and busts their arm, the only alternative is driving all the way to Royal Hobart and probably spending hours upon hours waiting in the emergency department. The feedback has been really positive from members of the community, which is the most important thing. But I also noticed some research earlier this week from doctors that showed that 70 per cent of GPs support this program, and indeed, 80 per cent of the GPs who were surveyed said it was having a positive impact on the hospital emergency department system.
 
JOURNALIST: And with the cost of living pressures increasing, how important is it, this bulk billing aspect as well?
 
BUTLER: It's incredibly important. We know that household budgets are under really serious pressure. But we also know, even as that pressure recedes in the future, that whether or not you are charged a fee for an urgent care service is a really important indicator of whether you can go to a hospital emergency department. Our advice has been really clear that these things need to be bulk billed if they're going to make a real difference. And that's a good message for Labor, because for us, bulk billing is the beating heart of Medicare. Everything we are doing through our strengthening Medicare reforms is about boosting health care but also improving the impact on household budgets. Here in Tasmania, as Julie said, there have been the biggest increase to bulk billing of any state in the federation, after we tripled the bulk billing incentives. Bulk billing in the last 12 months is up six percentage points here in Tasmania, delivering tens and tens of thousands of additional free visits to the GP, on top of the Urgent Care Clinic reforms and the huge amount of money people are saving for our cheaper medicines measures.
 
JOURNALIST: And what kind of impacts have we seen in other areas of Australia, where these Urgent Care Clinics are open when it comes to alleviating the pressure on emergency departments?
 
BUTLER: Different states are reporting different levels of detail. But increasingly, we're seeing what the hospitals describe as non-urgent or semi-urgent presentations starting, at least, to flat line, which is a good achievement, and in some hospitals actually starting to reduce. In some of the hospitals that started reporting this earlier, in Queensland and New South Wales, we've seen anywhere between a 10 and 20 per cent reduction in those non-urgent, semi-urgent presentations to emergency departments, which importantly allows those EDs to focus more on the life threatening emergencies that are coming through their front door.
 
JOURNALIST: And this Urgent Care Clinic fills the gap of urgent care. What is being done to fill the gap of GP vacancies in Tasmania?
 
BUTLER: What we've seen over the last couple of years nationally is more doctors entering the system than at any time in the past decade, particularly over the last two years. Pleasingly, what we're also seeing, from my perspective, is more junior doctors as they finish their university training, choosing to become GPs. That number was dropping very seriously for many years now, so we're starting to see that number climb again, which has been a real focus of our government, because general practice, after all, is the backbone of a well-functioning healthcare system. We've had some really good programs here in Tasmania to improve training arrangements for young doctors who want to become GPs. The so called ‘single employer model’ operates right across Tasmania, which I launched with Jeremy Rockliff when he was still the Health Minister here. That's, frankly, an exemplar for the rest of the country, really boosting the arrangements that support young doctors as they're training to become GP or Rural Generalists here in Tasmania. It’s going in the right direction, but for the first time in a number of years. But we know it's still tough and there's more to do, and as Julie said, there's a great risk to all of this progress, because Angus Taylor has made it quite clear that our investments in strengthening Medicare are, in his description, wasteful spending that would be on the chopping block, including an Urgent Care Clinic like this one.
 
JOURNALIST: And the fifth in Tasmania. Are there plans to expand to any more around the state?
 
BUTLER: I only had funding for 87 and all of those 87 will be open before the end of this month, before the end of this calendar year, as I promised they would be. Obviously, I want to do more to strengthen Medicare. What we have done is making a meaningful difference. We're getting more doctors, more bulk billing, more Urgent Care Clinics are opening, but we know it's still tough to access the sort of health care that people need and want across Australia. Of course there's more to do, and we're committed to doing more.
 
JOURNALIST: Obviously it’s already been touched on that the community out there, Huon Valley rallied really hard to maintain their health services. Is there a chance the facility will close following the outcome of a federal election?
 
BUTLER: The concern I think we have is that the investments, very substantial investments we've made into bulk billing, into cheap medicines and into Urgent Care Clinics have all been described by the alternative Treasurer as wasteful spending. He said that that spending will go on the chopping block. I'm very concerned that the Urgent Care Clinics we've opened will shut under a Dutton-led government. You just have to look at the language of the alternative Treasurer of this country, and you have to look at the form that Peter Dutton has. Doctors described him as the worst health minister in the history of Medicare for good reason. He tried to abolish bulk billing. He tried to make everyone pay a fee for going to the hospital emergency department. He tried to jack up the price of medicines, rather than make them cheaper. If you look at his record, if you look at the language of the Shadow Treasurer, Angus Taylor, all of these investments that are starting to show green shoots of recovery in Medicare, after years of cuts and neglect, are on the chopping block if there's a change of government at the next federal election.
 
JOURNALIST: Do you expect the state government to try it’s best to keep the clinic open?
 
BUTLER: At the end of the day, general practice is the responsibility of the federal government, and this is funded through Medicare. The future of the Urgent Care Clinics network right across the country rests with Canberra and budgetary decisions taken by the government of the day. And I can tell you, a Labor Government is always going to act to strengthen Medicare. It's 40 years old now, because the Labor Party introduced it 40 years ago and defended it against attack after attack, after attack, after attack from the Coalition and, at the time, from doctors’ groups and a range of others as well. We are determined to strengthen Medicare and ensure that it delivers high quality health care for another 40 years.
 
JOURNALIST: And how's the past few days been? How many patients have come through?
 
BALDOCK: The first night we had 14, and by Friday, we had 40. And I think that's going to be the future. In fact, it's probably going to get to more than that every night or every day. We're open from 10am to 8pm. It's been a resounding success. And  not that I'm anxious, I just know that we're going to have to keep ahead of the growing demand. With human resources, that's our challenge at the moment.
 
JOURNALIST: And you touched on it before a little bit. Can you tell us what other services will be available here?
 
BALDOCK: We run both a general practice here and with integrated care, allied health care, we have physiotherapy and psychology. We're looking desperately for a podiatrist, something that's not very well known, but podiatrists are very hard to find. We have x-ray now, and we have registered nurses and enrolled nurses. Urgent care is just a beautiful addition to what we're offering, especially in this area, that doesn't have any emergency care or emergency like care. And being open extended hours is significant, a significant service offer.
 
JOURNALIST: And what were the options available to people in this community before the Urgent Care Clinic opened?
 
BALDOCK: You can catch a bus and go to the Royal, if you can get a bus, it's a long walk. But not a lot, not a lot at all.
 
JOURNALIST: Will you be forced to close, if Medicare subsidies are wound back? Or will you promise to stay open?
 
BALDOCK: We will fight to the end. We will find a way, but gee I’d love Medicare to stay open and stay available. I will say, I'm a great supporter of Medicare. I think it's a wonderful thing.
 
JOURNALIST: Is it the fact that the subsidy what makes these Urgent Care Clinics viable for GPs?
 
BALDOCK: Of course, yeah, absolutely without the subsidies, it doesn't exist.
 
BUTLER: Thanks everyone.