Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Our federal Labor government is delivering for the people of Australia. As promised, the Darwin Medicare Urgent Care Clinic opened on Monday. Following on from the massive success of the Palmerston Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, which has already seen over 37,000 treatments in the Top End of Australia, the Darwin Urgent Care Clinic is now open. No appointments are required to get the bulk-billed care that you need when you need it. The urgent care clinic has got extended hours and is operating seven days a week.

The urgent care clinic on its first day on Monday cared for 35 Territorians. The first patient arrived at the centre just 20 minutes after opening and also right through to the close of the day. We saw about 40 per cent of those Territory patients being children under the age of 15, and they provided care for a range of conditions. About 35 per cent were acute injuries and about 65 per cent were non-acute illness. Importantly, 60 per cent of those patients said they would have gone to the Royal Darwin Hospital emergency department if the urgent care clinic wasn't open. We're really contributing to taking pressure off Royal Darwin and, at the same time, giving Territorians the care they need when and where they need it.