Claire Clutterham (Sturt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

One of the biggest weekends of doorknocking for me during the campaign was when I had the pleasure of announcing that Sturt would be getting an urgent care clinic—a walk-up, fully bulk-billed centre residents can go to when they need something urgently but don't need to go to hospital. That weekend, I met Natalie, who works in healthcare administration, managing urgent care clinics in South Australia. When I told Natalie that Sturt would be getting an urgent care clinic—there was not one in Sturt at the time—Natalie let out an audible cheer, because Natalie knows that urgent care clinics work. Over one million visits by Australians tell us that, and that is why we are opening more—50 more, including in Sturt.

Urgent care clinics were new to David, who I also met whilst I was doorknocking in my electorate of Sturt during the campaign. David was elderly and had fallen and injured his hip. He took a while to answer the door, due to his mobility, and when he did answer it and we got chatting, he told me that he was in pain and he couldn't get in to see his general practitioner. I told him about urgent care clinics and that the way they worked was that he could simply attend one on a walk-up basis, be seen by a doctor on a bulk-billed basis and get a prescription for pain medication if one was required. At the time, there was not an urgent care clinic in Sturt, and David's nearest urgent care clinic was in Para Hills, a taxi ride away. Despite that, David said that urgent care clinics sounded 'pretty good', and was very relieved to hear that Sturt would soon be home to an urgent care clinic and that the people of Sturt could access walk-up, bulk-billed services without placing more strain on the hospital system in circumstances where they couldn't get in to see their preferred general practitioner. David was right. It not only sounds like a good idea, it is a good idea. One million visits from the people of Australia tell us that it is a good idea.

Another good idea, as we know, is cheaper medicines, which form part of the suite of measures for making health care more affordable and more accessible to all Australians. Urgent care clinics, more doctors and nurses, more bulk-billed places, more investment in women's health and mental health medical centres, in addition to cheaper medicines, are good for the hip pocket; they are good for the health and wellbeing of all Australians; and, as we know, they are good for the economy, because a healthy population drives a productive and successful economy.

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