The community of Tamworth should lobby for one of 50 urgent care clinics to be rolled out by the Labor Party to be based in the city, if it wins government this month.
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That's according to Labor's duty senator for the region, Tim Ayres, who said Cessnock would get a clinic, and there's no reason why Tamworth couldn't as well.
But some local doctors are very skeptical of the model, saying the medical model is "a complete waste of time".
"It's going to require community support and community engagement and people should really get behind these," he said.
"It's a real opportunity for local communities. We want to see them rolled out, we're committed to rolling them out in government."
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The Labor party committed to spend $135 million building 50 of the clinics across the country, by July next year.
Modelled on facilities operating in New Zealand, the clinics would fill the gap between a GP and a hospital emergency room, by offering bulk-billed medical care for minor incidents like sprained ankles and broken bones, seven days a week from 8am to 10pm. Labor argues they will take pressure off the hospital system.
A spokesperson for the North West Health Professionals Network said "fixing health care delivery is not that simple".
"Regional centres need support to primary and secondary care rather than a third service, which would have similar workforce supply challenges and potentially further fragment care."
One local doctor the Leader spoke to said a better model would be to simply beef up the existing GP clinic at the Tamworth hospital, and described the idea as "a complete waste of time" outside large metropolitan regions like Newcastle and Sydney.
"Most large hospitals have GPs anyway and in a better location for redirecting patients to emergency departments if something goes wrong," he said.
Senator Ayres said the city's health sector and council should step up and make the case for a clinic to be located in Tamworth.
"We will locate them on the basis of need and a proper assessment of what's in the community interest. And towns like Tamworth should be in the running for those centres," he said.
"It's a good idea, it's supported by the profession and by the experts."
Medicare Urgent Care Clinics will be based in existing GP clinics or Community Health Centres.
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