STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Ms BYRNES (Cunningham) (13:31): In July, I was proud to celebrate the Corrimal Medicare urgent care clinic's third birthday with practice manager Brad Delprado and his amazing team. They have now delivered over 45,000 free walk-in consultations for conditions that are urgent but not life threatening, like minor fractures, sprains, burns, infections and more, and it's making a real difference to local people.

Only last week, Liz from Wollongong shared her experience at the Corrimal urgent care clinic. She said: The outcome was that within two hours my fracture had been triaged, examined, scanned, diagnosed and stabilised in a boot. The efficiency of having on site services and an integrated care model is worth noting as government looks to manage health care, especially for an ageing population What a lucky country we live in!

We agree, Liz. It is great news for the southern parts of my electorate too, with Dapto Urgent Care Clinic—in the electorate of my good friend the member for Whitlam—also marking more than 33,000 presentations in only two years. National data shows that 45 per cent of patients would otherwise have gone to emergency departments or called an ambulance.

This means less pressure on Wollongong Hospital and faster, free, quality care close to home for local patients. That's why the Albanese Labor government has made Medicare urgent care clinics a permanent part of Medicare. A big thankyou to all the amazing doctors, nurses and healthcare workers supporting our community every day.