Thursday, 23 November 2023
I am really pleased to share a significant development regarding the Albanese Labor Government’s Medicare Urgent Care Clinic for the southern suburbs.
After years of neglect from the Liberals, our health system has been strained. Over 45% of all hospital presentations at Noarlunga and Flinders Hospitals are non-urgent or semi-urgent cases, causing delays for those who need care promptly.
The Morphett Vale Medicare Urgent Care Clinic which opens next month will help the many families who have had to wait long hours at the emergency department for non-life-threatening issues.
The Morphett Vale Medicare Urgent Care Clinic will be:
The Morphett Vale Medicare Urgent Care Clinic is one of five clinics planned for South Australia, with others already operating in Elizabeth and Marion. Those in western Adelaide, Mount Gambier, and Morphett Vale are set to open by the end of the year.
This Medicare Urgent Care Clinic will be much more convenient for our southern community – closer to home, available at short notice, and fully bulk billed.
The Morphett Vale clinic will ease the pressure on Noarlunga Hospital, allowing the hospital to concentrate on higher priority emergencies.
The Albanese Labor Government is also getting on with delivering the $400 million expansion of Flinders Medical Centre in partnership with the Malinauskas State Government. This upgrade will deliver over 130 beds and will increase the capacity of the Intensive Care Unit, and emergency and elective surgery. This is alongside the State Government’s $74 million investment to upgrade Noarlunga Hospital.
In addition to the Medicare Urgent Care Clinic and hospital upgrades, the Government is investing a further $2.2 billion into reforms that will strengthen Medicare for the future, supporting GPs to grow their teams, new rebates for longer consults, enhancing wound care, improving telehealth access and more.
This complements the significant investment in tripling bulk billing, marking the largest increase in Medicare’s 40-year-history.
Already, doctors’ groups have called this a “game-changer” and GPs right around the country have said this will help them maintain and even shift back to bulk billing.
Our Government has also made medicines cheaper by introducing 60-day prescribing for certain conditions – helping general patients save up to $180 a year.
The Albanese Government is committed to ensuring our healthcare system is fit for purpose for the next decade.
To find out more, visit the Department for Health and Aged Care website.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to my office at ph: 8186 2588 or via email at [email protected].
