Tamworth: Medicare Urgent Care Clinic set to open raises healthcare staffing questions

With both general practice and hospitals struggling, Barton Lane Practice GP Daniel Rankmore questions where the clinic will get the necessary staff.

The aim of the service is to try and fill the gaps where services can't be delivered in the hospital or general practice, he said, which are primarily limited by workforce

"It'll be in direct competition for recruiting staff," he said.

"It's a little bit stealing from Peter to pay Paul, isn't it?"

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The federal government is funding 50 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics (UCC) nationally to deliver a new model of care and reduce pressure on hospital emergency departments (ED).

In NSW, 14 will be rolled out from July 1, including within the Hunter New England Central Coast Primary Health Network region in Cessnock, Gosford, Wyong, and Tamworth.

Saving emergency departments for cases that need a higher level of care "would certainly make a difference to us", Nurses and Midwives Association Tamworth branch secretary Jill Telfer said, but the government must look at where the staff will come from.

"There's things they can do as a government to make it more attractive to get both medical and nurses to the country," she said.

"We have some particular needs that are unique to the country, and one of the big ones is attracting staff."

Community in nearby Armidale, not slated for a UCC, are pushing for an after hours medical clinic, as no general practices offer the service.

UCCs will be bulk billed, open seven days a week and accept walk ins.

Existing GPs and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services that may have the capacity to operate a UCC are invited to express interest.

Plans to improve access to after-hours care, expand the number of nurses, and create a patient ID system called MyMedicare were endorsed by the prime minister on Friday, April 28.

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