LABOR has promised to fund a new “Medicare Urgent Care Clinic” in Frankston if it wins the federal election.
The federal opposition has announced it will spend $135 million over four years to fund trials of 50 urgent care centres statewide. It hopes that the centres will make it easier for people to access urgent bulk billed medical care. One of the centres will be near Frankston Hospital.
Dunkley MP Peta Murphy welcomed the plans. She said “the pressure on Frankston Hospital’s emergency department has been increasing under the Morrison government, this local Medicare Urgent Care Clinic will take pressure off our hospital and reduce patient wait times. Our local community deserves access to urgent and affordable health care when we need it most.”
Shadow health minister Mark Butler said that the clinics will “strengthen Medicare and make it easier for families to access care.”
“Medicare is the bedrock of our health system and by using it to help take the pressure off hospital emergency departments we can make the whole system stronger,” he said.
The clinics are expected to be open seven days a week from 8am to 10pm.
