I rise today to introduce my motion that is focused on the ACT government’s nurse-led walk-in centres by recognising their significant contribution to our healthcare system and calling on each party in this chamber to publicly affirm their support for the ACT’s nurse-led walk-in centre model.

This motion is a bit of a change to the issues and passions I usually focus my work on, and it may come as a surprise to some members, but I am a strong advocate for Canberra’s nurse-led walk-in centres. There have been many times over the years when I have actively chosen to go to a walk-in centre to seek medical treatment, rather than booking in at a later time to see my doctor or visiting the emergency room. They are a great addition to our health services, and I want to make sure we protect them, improve them and ensure more Canberrans can easily access them when in need.

Our walk-in centres are run by nurses and provide free health care for non-life threatening injuries and illnesses to anyone who is over one year of age. They are part of the national network of Medicare urgent care clinics, with centres open seven days a week, including Christmas and New Year’s Day, between 7.30 am and 10 pm. You do not need to make an appointment; you can just rock up and go on in. Across the ACT, there are walk-in centres located in Belconnen, Tuggeranong, Dickson, Weston Creek and Gungahlin.

Walk-in centres can provide you with a health assessment and treatment for a wide range of health needs, including medical certificates and care of minor injuries such as cuts, abrasions, bruises, burns, common colds and influenza, skin conditions and many more. The centres are staffed by advanced practice nurses and nurse practitioners. If your health needs are more than what they can provide, they will direct or support you to get the right care.

Madam Speaker, it is important to highlight that these centres care for anyone over the age of one. You do not need a Medicare card, and all services and treatments received are free. As an added bonus, people can see an estimate of wait times at any of the walk-in centres through the ACT government’s website. This is an extremely beneficial feature, as anyone who is in a position to easily access more than one walk-in centre may choose to visit a centre that is slightly further away if they are able to be treated sooner.

Our walk-in centres play an important part in Canberra’s healthcare services by helping to remove people from our emergency rooms who may have medical needs that can be treated by our highly skilled nurses. These centres are not here to replace the vital work of the doctors and nurses in our emergency rooms but, rather, to treat people with medical needs that are not life threating and can be treated quickly, without them needing to book in to see their doctor.

Last year, I was out walking my friend’s dog, and I tripped over him and badly hurt my ankle. I knew it was not broken, but it was incredibly painful, and I was not able to walk on it properly. My GP, who I note is absolutely wonderful, could have provided treatment except that I tripped after hours, and the next day was a public holiday, so it would have been over 24 hours before I could have even made an appointment with my GP, and I needed treatment a little bit faster than that.

Instead of going to the nearest hospital and waiting in the emergency room, I checked the wait times of the walk-in centres and visited the Dickson centre to seek medical treatment for my ankle. I decided this was the best course of action, as my medical needs were not life threatening, and I knew I could easily be treated by a nurse. While at the walk-in centre, which I hobbled into rather than walked into, the nurse treated my ankle and gave me the necessary pain relief and treatment to tend to my ankle.

I was nothing but impressed with the care and treatment I received from the nurses. They were friendly, helpful and quick to help alleviate the pain and discomfort I was in. In short, I had no regrets with deciding to seek medical care from one of our walk-in centres, rather than at the hospital. I was conscious that I did not want to make others in the emergency room wait for longer for their own medical needs, and especially if their medical needs were more crucial than mine.

I am not alone in having a positive experience at our nurse-led walk-in centres. Many Canberrans actively choose to have their medical needs attended to by nurses at these walk-in centres. At the times that I have had to visit one of the centres, I have seen families and all different kinds of people within our community seeking treatment there. Having a walk-in centre close by is extremely beneficial for young families. As everyone knows, kids do not stop, and sometimes their high energy and excitement for life results in them injuring themselves. I think it is important for the community to have access to instant medical care for urgent and non-urgent medical needs.

Part of my motion today calls on each party to publicly affirm their support for the current nurse-led walk-in centre model, to retain existing locations and continue the urgent care clinic partnership with the commonwealth government and to rule out a politically motivated review of the walk-in centre model.

I am introducing this motion today to ensure that each party here in the chamber does their duty to the Canberra community to ensure we support and continue to improve our walk-in centres. I have briefly touched on my own positive experience at the

centres, and I am sure other members across the chamber can recount a positive experience, too, whether for themselves, their kids or a loved one. These centres play an important part in our healthcare system, and I want to ensure we work together to grow and improve the services they offer. A politically motivated review into our nurse-led walk-in centre, I fear, could be quite damaging and not beneficial for the community. Our walk-in centres are popular, and they work well by helping to get people with less urgent medical needs out of our emergency rooms, which helps to reduce the overall wait times within our emergency rooms.

Based on comments in the past from former and current members of the opposition, it can be said that they do not support walk-in centres or the role they have in our health system. I have found some comments that I have heard in this place over the years that I have been here very concerning, for the centres and for our hardworking nurses at these centres. Today I am seeking reassurance for walk-in centres from every member in the chamber by calling on all parties to publicly affirm their support of the current nurse-led walk-in centre model. The final “calls on” in my motion asks all parties to support nurse-led healthcare provisions that allow our nurses to work to the top of their scope of practice, as their contribution complements the co-existing health services within the ACT. I have briefly touched on the benefits that these walk-in centres have for the community and their assistance with freeing up people from our emergency waiting rooms.

The ACT government prioritises and is continuing to improve our high-quality public healthcare services, now and into the future. I will allow my ministerial colleagues to provide further information on future improvements that this government is making to healthcare services across the ACT. The existence of our nurse-led walk-in centres complements the pre-existing healthcare services such as our public hospitals, including the expansion to Canberra Hospital, and other privately owned general practices around the territory.

I firmly believe that nurse-led walk-in centres provide a great service to the community and complement our existing health infrastructure. In saying this, I acknowledge that healthcare service is something the ACT government should continue to invest in, and will continue to invest in and improve, as our population continues to grow.

I have seen how much my electorate of Yerrabi has grown and how the ACT government has been putting in place the necessary infrastructure to meet the demand. Our Gungahlin walk-in centre is very popular and well respected within the community. Many families appreciate the support and health services that the walk-in centres provide. I look forward to seeing the improvements for the Gungahlin region that the north side hospital upgrade will provide, as well as other future improvements to the health services in the Gungahlin region.

In the meantime, we need to ensure we continue to support our nurse-led walk-in centre model and prioritise the urgent care clinic partnership with the commonwealth government. We know that nurse-led walk-in centres provide necessary health care to the community. I would encourage all members of this place to be supportive of considering innovative nurse-led models of care in the new health centre and Northside Hospital.