Australians have clocked up more than two million visits to Labor's free Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, easing pressure on hospital emergency departments and keeping critical care focused where it is needed most.
New data shows that the average number of visits to Medicare Urgent Care Clinics has risen to almost 26,000 per week nationally, and this number is expected to continue to grow as more clinics open.
Nearly half of all patients who attended a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic would have used a hospital emergency department if no clinic was available.
The Albanese Labor Government has delivered 90 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics with another 47 to open by mid-next year, which in total will provide services to around two million people every year.
Once all 137 clinics are open, 4 in 5 Australians will live within a 20-minute drive of a clinic according to analysis by the Department of Health and Aged Care.
Clinics are open for extended hours, filling a vital gap when regular GP practices are often closed. Nearly 30 per cent of visits to Medicare Urgent Care Clinics have taken place on weekends, and 25 per cent of patients have attended after 5pm on weekdays.
