Tamworth Medicare UCC to accept bulk-billed patients on October 30

The Tamworth Medicare Urgent Care Clinic (UCC) is designed to take the pressure off the region's hospital emergency department, and will soon start offering bulk-billed services to patients seven days a week.

The location's principal Dr Ian Kamerman said there's lots of work to do to get the Tamworth UCC ready in time.

"It hasn't been a long journey as such, just trying to do a whole lot of things at once. We're putting new rooms in the medical centre so life's a bit chaotic in here," Dr Kamerman said.

"We need a bit more in the way of specialised equipment, such that you would use in an urgent care centre that there's normally not a lot of demand for in a general practice."

Equipment the doctor said he's still waiting on are slit lamps to get a better view of patients' eyes and a mini-pathology laboratory for urgent blood tests.

Dr Kamerman said the clinic will have a "soft opening" as soon as it's ready with a grand opening "later on down the track".

"Opening day at this stage is being planned for the 30^th of October," he said.

"It certainly won't be pushed earlier. There are chances it will be pushed back if the building works aren't finished or if equipment doesn't arrive, but at this stage it looks like we should have everything in place by October 30."

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Northwest Health's East Tamworth location, across from Woolies, is in the process of changing from a mixed-billing, private practice, into a Medicare UCC with extended hours and walk-in care.

Locals have been eyeing the East Tamworth Medical Centre since Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced in August that the new UCC would be up-and-running in October to help alleviate demand on Tamworth hospital and regional general practitioners (GPs).

"It'll help take some pressure off our colleague general practices. Ideally every general practice would like to see every patient requesting urgent care on the day, but the supply of GPs is somewhat fixed and so appointments are somewhat fixed," Dr Kamerman said.

Modelled on similar facilities trialled in New Zealand, a UCC fills 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.

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

"The aim of this is to try and deal with those appointments and conditions that don't really need an emergency department but need to receive medical help on the day," he said.

However, some health care providers are not convinced the bulk-billed UCC will help, with a local GP previously telling the Leader he's concerned whether the Medicare UCC will attract much-needed health care staff to the region, or make things worse by stealing the ones who are already here.

Regional and rural towns are already struggling as a shortage of GPs and other specialists have created gaps in services across the New England and North West.

Dr Kamerman said his colleagues don't need to worry about competition from the UCC.

"We sort out urgent problems and refer them back to their own GP, we're not trying to provide what I'd call a continuity service and we certainly will not be providing ongoing care through the UCC, it's just designed for people with urgent problems that can't get in to their regular GP on the day," he said.

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