I don’t agree with the implementation of american systems here in Australia. I’ve only heard of the urgent care model from the US, so I don’t know if other countries had or have adopted it as well. They’ll all be privatised at some stage and lack of affordable or appropriate care will roll in
torlesse on
>”If you’ve got a sore ear and if … you took that child to the GP, just under $43. If you took your child to the urgent care centre, it would cost the taxpayer just under $300.”
>Because they’re bulk billed, there’s a risk Medicare Urgent Care Clinics could be used by some patients as a way to avoid paying gap fees that are often charged when patients see GPs.
Here is a wild thought, maybe, just maybe, if they bulk billed GP visits then people won’t use Urgent Care just because they bulk bill.
Lucky-Engineering544 on
Clinics like these need to exist because the government has underfunded GP visits (by freezing Medicare indexation) which has passed costs on to patients with gap payments.
It’s expensive but politicians like them because they can strategically place them in swing electorates and point to the “great work” they are doing to make healthcare more accessible and affordable
IAmABillie on
I’ve had a lot of positive experiences with the new urgent care clinics in the Brisbane area, both my own family and people I have referred there through my work.
The ability to run tests, do imaging and minor procedures in a timely fashion is an essential element missing from our healthcare space. GPs don’t have the time to handle these issues as they occur – stitches or a cast for a simple fracture or a chest xray and immediate review – so don’t do them. They need to happen, though, so low acuity but necessary cases spill over into busy EDs. Urgent care clinics offer timely service at the time it is required.
MoabBoy on
There are still dickheads that are clogging up the EDs because they can’t see their doctor. Pretty much a minimum 6 hour wait at the Joondalup ED. We’ve used urgent care clinics a few times and you are basically straight in to see a doctor.
CaptainFleshBeard on
Our Urgent Care is now $180 to be seen, so I go to Emergency where it is free
FroggieBlue on
Ive used one once with an eye problem, ended up at the emergency department anyway as they didn’t have the machine needed to look at the eye close enough.
Better than going to the GP when the problem got worse though. The GP told ei might need to see an opthomologist, try an optomitrist for their opinion, $75 gap. Optomitrist charged nothing but referred me back to the hospital because it was either an infection or an allergic reaction or both but treating for the allergic reaction without knowing aboit the infection might make am infection worse.
ToothAccomplished on
Stop americanising your goddamn healthcare. Holy smokes.
Lady_Penrhyn1 on
I went to one. Got told I didn’t have an appointment but they could see me in 6 or 7 hours.
:/
Edit: for anyone wanting to know. Was having BP & heart rate fluctuations (resting heart rate of 120 at times). Just wanted to get an accurate reading and to see if this was something I should go to the ED for. Ended up going to the ED. Got triaged by a nurse on arrival, did a history, talked to a doctor. Got put on a monitor and then they realised I was having a weird reaction to a new medication. Sat around for a bit in the ED as they continued to monitor, everything started to settle after 4 hours so I was discharged.
Wawa-85 on
Have used my local Urgent Care clinic (St John’s Cockburn Central) a couple of times and they’ve been great. I’m insured with HIF who cover the urgent care fees so I don’t have to pay anything. Have only ever waited about half an hour to get seen.
caramelkoala45 on
The urgent care clinic near me is supposed to close at 10pm but apparently will shut up shop hours earlier if they go over their patient quota for the day $$
dr_w0rm_ on
The elephant in the room that the AMA doesn’t want to address is that most GPs refuse to work weekends or past 5pm. We keep hearing about “increasing the rebate” but can’t see how this will fulfill the ‘after hours’ needs of patients, when physicians choose GP instead of speciality training for the ‘regular hours’ / work life balance.
tilleytalley on
My local urgent care is really hit and miss. If you go at night, it’s closed hours early as they have too many people waiting. If you’re there at opening, you’ll still be waiting at least an hour. The reception and nurses are great, but the doctors… not so much.
Alternative_Bite_779 on
They need to be advertised more.
I couldn’t tell you where my closest one is.
Numerous-Barnacle on
I took my baby to an Urgent Care Clinic a few weeks ago after he had blood in his nappy. Of course it was on a Sunday and after doing the typical new parent of stress googling, we’d called Healthdirect and got told to book a GP appointment but the earliest appointment at our GP was two weeks away so we took him to the Clinic.
There was definitely a weird mix of people there (from someone needing a cut bandaged to someone wanting their pathology results chased up (?)) but I can’t really fault the service as we were seen pretty quickly and the doctor was really thorough, gave us some follow up tests and guidance on if/when to escalate to the ED.
Of course we’d prefer to just use our GP but with wait times like that what are you meant to do?
SadieSadieSnakeyLady on
My local urgent care closed before it opened because it couldn’t get doctors
Ushi007 on
They’re great.
I accidentally ripped my foot open on a Saturday evening. The urgent care looked at it right away and patched me up.
Definitely saved an ED visit. I was a bit sheepish about taking up their time and the doctor/nurses made a point that the Urgent Care was intended to keep cases like mine out of the emergency room. I got the sense that they got a lot of non-emergency bullshit coming through the door.
larvioarskald on
I took my kid to the urgent care clinic for an injury after his footy game. The doctor did not perform hand hygiene once, their antimicrobial curtains were well past their expiry date and there was not any type of cleaning happening in the bed bays in between patients. I won’t go back because it seems there is no governance or accountability for their infection prevention responsibilities.
throwawayno38393939 on
I went to one today for an infected puncture wound, as my GP isn’t equipped for draining a wound, which I figured might be needed.
The UC dr thought it likely needed draining but wouldn’t do without an ultrasound to make sure. Fair enough. Off to imaging I went. No ultrasound person was on today.
Dr was displeased and told me to ring around for an ultrasound. None were available today. So he didn’t feel comfortable opening up my hand incase there was nothing to drain.
So he gave me antibiotics, with the disclaimer that they probably won’t work if it needs draining, and that if I wanted , I could go to the ER instead.
Which was all my GP would have done.
It seemed like a good set up in theory, with no ultrasound available, it had no advantage over seeing my gp, I traveled futher than my GP , and it took considerably longer than if I’d gone to my GP.
19 Comments
I don’t agree with the implementation of american systems here in Australia. I’ve only heard of the urgent care model from the US, so I don’t know if other countries had or have adopted it as well. They’ll all be privatised at some stage and lack of affordable or appropriate care will roll in
>”If you’ve got a sore ear and if … you took that child to the GP, just under $43. If you took your child to the urgent care centre, it would cost the taxpayer just under $300.”
>Because they’re bulk billed, there’s a risk Medicare Urgent Care Clinics could be used by some patients as a way to avoid paying gap fees that are often charged when patients see GPs.
Here is a wild thought, maybe, just maybe, if they bulk billed GP visits then people won’t use Urgent Care just because they bulk bill.
Clinics like these need to exist because the government has underfunded GP visits (by freezing Medicare indexation) which has passed costs on to patients with gap payments.
It’s expensive but politicians like them because they can strategically place them in swing electorates and point to the “great work” they are doing to make healthcare more accessible and affordable
I’ve had a lot of positive experiences with the new urgent care clinics in the Brisbane area, both my own family and people I have referred there through my work.
The ability to run tests, do imaging and minor procedures in a timely fashion is an essential element missing from our healthcare space. GPs don’t have the time to handle these issues as they occur – stitches or a cast for a simple fracture or a chest xray and immediate review – so don’t do them. They need to happen, though, so low acuity but necessary cases spill over into busy EDs. Urgent care clinics offer timely service at the time it is required.
There are still dickheads that are clogging up the EDs because they can’t see their doctor. Pretty much a minimum 6 hour wait at the Joondalup ED. We’ve used urgent care clinics a few times and you are basically straight in to see a doctor.
Our Urgent Care is now $180 to be seen, so I go to Emergency where it is free
Ive used one once with an eye problem, ended up at the emergency department anyway as they didn’t have the machine needed to look at the eye close enough.
Better than going to the GP when the problem got worse though. The GP told ei might need to see an opthomologist, try an optomitrist for their opinion, $75 gap. Optomitrist charged nothing but referred me back to the hospital because it was either an infection or an allergic reaction or both but treating for the allergic reaction without knowing aboit the infection might make am infection worse.
Stop americanising your goddamn healthcare. Holy smokes.
I went to one. Got told I didn’t have an appointment but they could see me in 6 or 7 hours.
:/
Edit: for anyone wanting to know. Was having BP & heart rate fluctuations (resting heart rate of 120 at times). Just wanted to get an accurate reading and to see if this was something I should go to the ED for. Ended up going to the ED. Got triaged by a nurse on arrival, did a history, talked to a doctor. Got put on a monitor and then they realised I was having a weird reaction to a new medication. Sat around for a bit in the ED as they continued to monitor, everything started to settle after 4 hours so I was discharged.
Have used my local Urgent Care clinic (St John’s Cockburn Central) a couple of times and they’ve been great. I’m insured with HIF who cover the urgent care fees so I don’t have to pay anything. Have only ever waited about half an hour to get seen.
The urgent care clinic near me is supposed to close at 10pm but apparently will shut up shop hours earlier if they go over their patient quota for the day $$
The elephant in the room that the AMA doesn’t want to address is that most GPs refuse to work weekends or past 5pm. We keep hearing about “increasing the rebate” but can’t see how this will fulfill the ‘after hours’ needs of patients, when physicians choose GP instead of speciality training for the ‘regular hours’ / work life balance.
My local urgent care is really hit and miss. If you go at night, it’s closed hours early as they have too many people waiting. If you’re there at opening, you’ll still be waiting at least an hour. The reception and nurses are great, but the doctors… not so much.
They need to be advertised more.
I couldn’t tell you where my closest one is.
I took my baby to an Urgent Care Clinic a few weeks ago after he had blood in his nappy. Of course it was on a Sunday and after doing the typical new parent of stress googling, we’d called Healthdirect and got told to book a GP appointment but the earliest appointment at our GP was two weeks away so we took him to the Clinic.
There was definitely a weird mix of people there (from someone needing a cut bandaged to someone wanting their pathology results chased up (?)) but I can’t really fault the service as we were seen pretty quickly and the doctor was really thorough, gave us some follow up tests and guidance on if/when to escalate to the ED.
Of course we’d prefer to just use our GP but with wait times like that what are you meant to do?
My local urgent care closed before it opened because it couldn’t get doctors
They’re great.
I accidentally ripped my foot open on a Saturday evening. The urgent care looked at it right away and patched me up.
Definitely saved an ED visit. I was a bit sheepish about taking up their time and the doctor/nurses made a point that the Urgent Care was intended to keep cases like mine out of the emergency room. I got the sense that they got a lot of non-emergency bullshit coming through the door.
I took my kid to the urgent care clinic for an injury after his footy game. The doctor did not perform hand hygiene once, their antimicrobial curtains were well past their expiry date and there was not any type of cleaning happening in the bed bays in between patients. I won’t go back because it seems there is no governance or accountability for their infection prevention responsibilities.
I went to one today for an infected puncture wound, as my GP isn’t equipped for draining a wound, which I figured might be needed.
The UC dr thought it likely needed draining but wouldn’t do without an ultrasound to make sure. Fair enough. Off to imaging I went. No ultrasound person was on today.
Dr was displeased and told me to ring around for an ultrasound. None were available today. So he didn’t feel comfortable opening up my hand incase there was nothing to drain.
So he gave me antibiotics, with the disclaimer that they probably won’t work if it needs draining, and that if I wanted , I could go to the ER instead.
Which was all my GP would have done.
It seemed like a good set up in theory, with no ultrasound available, it had no advantage over seeing my gp, I traveled futher than my GP , and it took considerably longer than if I’d gone to my GP.
It would have been great if properly staffed.