Bulk billing clinic set to relieve Tamworth hospital pressure

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will make the announcement at the Annual Bush Summit in Tamworth on Friday, August 11.

The city had been spruiked as a potential home for one of Labor's 50 new Medicare UCCs in May 2022.

"The Tamworth Medicare Urgent Care Clinic (UCC) will make a big difference to patients in the region who will be able to walk in seven days a week and get free urgent care from a nurse or a doctor," Mr Albanese said.

Northwest Health, which is currently a mixed-billing, private practice, will be reborn as a Medicare UCC, meaning it will offer extended hours and walk-in care that is fully bulk billed.

Modelled on facilities in New Zealand, the clinics are set to fill the gap between a GP and a hospital emergency room, by offering bulk-billed medical care for 'semi-urgent' incidents like sprained ankles and broken bones, seven days a week from 8am to 10pm.

Almost 63 per cent of presentations to Tamworth hospital are for non-urgent or semi-urgent care, which Labor says the Medicare UCC is designed to cover.

"The clinic will make a real difference, easing pressure on Tamworth Hospital so that its hard-working doctors and nurses can focus on higher priority emergencies," the Prime Minister said.

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Owner of Northwest Health Dr Ian Kamerman says revamping the medical centre as a Medicare UCC will deliver huge health benefits to the region.

"Like many regional centres Tamworth is short of GPs and has an Emergency Department that has large demands placed on it," Dr Kamerman said.

"An Urgent Care Clinic will provide an alternative to both general practice and the emergency department that will enable access to quality healthcare using our specialist GPs at no additional cost for health conditions that cannot wait until your GP can see you."

However, some health care providers are not convinced the bulk-billed UCC will help, with a local GP previously telling the Leader that without more fundamental reforms, the idea is "a little bit stealing from Peter to pay Paul."

The major concern for local providers is whether the Medicare UCC will help attract much-needed health care staff and specialists to the region.

Critical workforce shortages in regional clinics have created gaps in services which can only be filled by recruiting additional staff.

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 in April.

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