Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Health and Aged Care, Senator Gallagher. Before the 2022 general election, Labor committed to opening 50 Medicare urgent care clinics across Australia as part of its promise to strengthen Medicare. With these urgent care clinics now being opened across the country, could the minister please update the Senate on how many clinics are open and what role these clinics are playing in the Albanese government's efforts to strengthen Medicare and make health care more affordable for all Australians?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Stewart for the question and for the work that she does in the state of Victoria, advocating for improved access to affordable health care for her constituents. There are now 48 Medicare urgent care clinics open and operating, with the Alice Springs Medicare urgent care clinic, which opened this week, and the Rockhampton urgent care clinic, which opened today. Forty-eight clinics are up and running, with 10 more to be opened by the end of this month. In the election campaign we promised 50 Medicare urgent care clinics, but we will deliver 58 by the end of this year. They're operating seven days a week for extended hours and are open to walk-in patients who need urgent care for non-threatening emergencies for themselves or for their children.

Some of the results that we're seeing are excellent. There have been 75,000 presentations to Medicare urgent care clinics, just in the last few months. Importantly, a third of these patients have been under 15 years of age, so we know they are working for families with children. Nearly a third of the visits have taken place on weekends, which is, again, something the model sought to address: the fact that often you are unable to access primary health care on the weekend, and that would result in long waits at hospital emergency departments. On weekdays, more than one in five visits take place after hours.

We are getting a lot of feedback, particularly from parents with children who have experienced fractures, about how great the service is and that they're not required to wait at emergency departments.

This is an important initiative. It's working well. We're doing it in conjunction with states and territories to make sure that the primary healthcare system is supporting the tertiary healthcare system. And, of course, this builds on the work that was achieved today at National Cabinet in relation to partnerships on health and hospital services.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Stewart, a first supplementary?

Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you for the update on the urgent care clinics, Minister. Bulk-billing is an essential feature of Medicare. What action is the Albanese government taking to ensure that more Australians are able to access a bulk-billed GP appointment when they need it? Why is it important to strengthen Medicare?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Stewart for the supplementary question. Obviously, the Medicare urgent care clinics are a part of this because they are free of charge, bulk-billing centres for those patients that use them. Alongside that, we're addressing the pressures in primary health care in a number of ways. Other measures include the tripling of the bulk-billing incentive, which took effect from 1 November. The college of GPs called this 'a game changer'. It is early days, but we're already seeing the number of clinics around the country that are returning to bulk-billing after decades of cuts and neglect. For example, in New South Wales, in one clinic, we saw the rate of bulk-billing in September, when half of appointments were bulk-billed, rise to two-thirds in November. This is an important change. It shows that our focus on affordability and accessibility of health care is working.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Stewart, a second supplementary?

Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How is the Albanese government further strengthening Medicare by making health care more affordable for Australians by making medicines cheaper?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Stewart for that final question. Building on the tripling of the bulk-billing incentive, in terms of the extra clinics that we're opening in the Medicare urgent care clinics, 48 are open and 10 more will open by the end of this year. We have also introduced important changes to make sure that medicines are cheaper for Australians. Already this year, around two million pensioners and concession card holders have benefited from the decision last year to cut the maximum amount they would pay for all their medicines by 25 per cent, which was the first wave of our cheaper medicines policy. That means a lot of people are paying less. General patients are getting cheaper medicines through the biggest cut to the price of medicines in the 75-year history of the PBS from 1 January, which is the second wave of our cheaper medicines reform. From 1 September, four million Australians were able to go to their doctor and ask for a 60-day script for around a hundred common medicines, which was the third wave of our cheaper medicines reform.