The ACRRM College Council has endorsed a policy position statement on Rural and Remote Urgent Care Centres (UCCs).

 

The statement includes vision for rural urgent care frameworks and UCCs to make it easier for rural people to see a doctor or nurse when they have an urgent, but non-life-threatening need for care.

 

ACRRM believes that the UCC model as implemented in certain states represents a fundamental abrogation of the State Government’s responsibility to provide this care free of charge. It should be a core principle of the national healthcare system that every Australian irrespective of where they live should have free access to emergency medical care. State governments, through national funding arrangements, are delegated responsibility for ensuring this access.

 

The effect of these arrangements is that rural practitioners are paid less than their urban counterparts for the same services and are faced with the unacceptable dilemma to either operate at financial loss or pass on gap fees to their rural patients.

 

There is need for clarity about the definition of UCCs as they apply both at the national and state level. There are a range of different funding and delivery models operating across Australia which are variously described as ‘Urgent Care Centres’, ‘Urgent Care Clinics, and ‘Priority Care Centres’.

 

You can read the new statement here.