ABC Tropical North Presenter, Rob Kidd: A Medicare Urgent Care Clinic is open in Mackay to provide free walk-in care for people who are unwell, but don't have a life-threatening condition. The clinic in [Peel] Street opened a few weeks ago fairly quietly, but today, Senator Nita Green, who is the Assistant Minister for Northern Australia, she's here to officially launch the service and she joins me in the ABC Tropical North Studio. Good morning.
Senator Nita Green: Good morning.
Kidd: Have we put the weather on for you or what?
Green: Of course, Queensland always puts the weather on for us.
Kidd: Senator, you're based in regional Queensland. You love Cairns. So I imagine you know firsthand how hard it can be to see a doctor after hours, unless you want to rock up to the emergency department at a public hospital. What difference will it make for people of Mackay?
Green: A huge difference. We've found that Urgent Care Clinics, particularly in regional areas in Queensland have been a game changer for people. And that's because as you say, it's that type of care where you don't quite need to go to the emergency department, but you can't wait to see a doctor. And I've used the Urgent Care Clinic myself. I've got a four-year-old daughter and we found the biggest cohort of users has actually been parents with kids because you get those scrapes and bruises over the weekend or high fevers and things that really need some attention, but you just don't feel right going to the emergency department because you know you can wait. Those are the types of people that this clinic will help. And I think it's really important to emphasise that they're fully bulk billed, you don't need to pay. All you need is your Medicare card.
Kidd: What reaction are you getting from people?
Green: Oh, I'm really excited to be here in Mackay to be launching this Urgent Care Clinic. It means that we'll now have an Urgent Care Clinic in every single coastal major town in Queensland. And I've visited Urgent Care Clinics in Rockhampton, Townsville and Cairns. And the feedback we get is people really appreciate knowing where to go when they just need that little bit of help.
Kidd: Because sometimes they don't know because whatever situation they're in at that particular time, everyone's rushing around like the flies and they don't exactly know. So this is, I suppose, a great place that they can just actually keep in the back of their mind to go to.
Green: Absolutely. And it's open extended hours. That's when we see the most patients going through. So it's open later hours and on the weekends. And that means that people can walk in for free and get advice about where the best care is for them. If they have to go to the emergency department, of course, they will be directed to go there. But often what it means is that you can see a nurse or a doctor quickly and get that treatment that you might need. And as a parent, having that peace of mind over the weekend, it just means so much to people.
Kidd: Are there any limitations? I mean, can you just again say what sort of conditions can they treat? I mean, there's got to be some sort of limitations.
Green: Yeah. Look, I mean, it's not for your regular GP appointments and those chronic conditions where you should be seeing your regular GP for. This is for times where you do need literally urgent care. So something that just can't wait until the GP office opens on Monday. And we see that people go all the way through the week. It's really fantastic that people have access to this here in Mackay. It's something that we announced during the election and now we've delivered it. And I've seen the impact it's had in towns all across regional Queensland. We've had half a million Queenslanders visit urgent care clinics, so they've been really popular.
Kidd: Have you heard the comments from anybody that Mackay's been left alone, that it's been forgotten about for many years? Have you ever heard that phrase?
Green: I certainly understand people in regional areas feeling left out because our cities do get a lot of attention. I live in regional Queensland and sometimes I feel that way too. What I've tried to do as a regional Queenslander as part of the Albanese government is make sure that our towns here in regional Queensland are not forgotten. And I was very insistent with the health Minister back during the election that Mackay was the only town at this point that didn't have an Urgent Care Clinic and we needed to make this promise. We did that. We worked through a tender process. We found a provider and now we've opened the Urgent Care Clinic. So you can tell I'm thrilled.
Kidd: Okay. Nita, the clinic is one of 50 announced as an election promise. As you mentioned, that was a year ago. Can you tell me why it's taken a year for the service to open?
Green: Yeah, look, we go through a tender process and we make sure that we have a provider who can deliver the service. That's an incredibly important part of the process. And the provider that we've chosen has had an established Urgent Care Clinic in Townsville for over a year or two. So we know that they will be able to deliver this. We don't rush these things. We make sure that we go through all the proper processes. But what that means is we now have a service that is operational and ready for people to walk in for free and get the care that they need.
Kidd: Do you need any other information to get out to the public this morning because you're very busy after 9:00 this morning?
Green: We're very busy, but we will be making sure that everyone gets the information that they need. We'll be doing some work today to get on the news, but we'll also be sending mail out to people so that they understand where the Urgent Care Clinic is located and what types of things would be necessary to go in there for.
Kidd: Senator, I appreciate your time this morning.