A Shorten Labor Government will build a new urgent care clinic on Bribie Island, providing the local community with much-needed medical care and taking pressure off Caboolture Hospital’s overstretched emergency department.

Labor will commit $17 million in funding to establish the clinic, which will treat people with urgent but not life-threatening illnesses and injuries – so they’re not forced to travel up to an hour to be treated in Caboolture.

About 5000 of the 52,000 people who presented to Caboolture Hospital’s emergency department in 2017 came from Bribie Island, and up to 75 per cent of them had conditions that could have been treated in an urgent care clinic, including minor injuries such as fractures, dislocations, sprains and strains, gastrointestinal conditions and respiratory illness.

The new walk-in clinic will be open seven days a week, meaning it will also give residents improved access to after-hours care for those unable to schedule a regular primary care appointment.

More than half of the Bribie residents presenting to Caboolture Hospital emergency department arrive by ambulance – meaning the new clinic would also significantly reduce demand on the Queensland Ambulance Service, increasing availability and bringing down response times for the whole region.

Urgent health care is the number one concern for Bribie Island residents, especially the elderly – and Susan Lamb has been fighting for them to get the care they need. Labor has listened and is taking action with this announcement.

Caboolture Hospital is already under strain as a result of Malcolm Turnbull’s $2.9 million funding cut. 

That cut comes at a time when the hospital is experiencing an increase in demand that’s 10 per cent above the state wide average. Doctors, nurses and hospital staff are doing their absolute best – but the Liberals are denying them the resources necessary to deliver the best possible care.

The Bribie Island urgent care clinic will free up staff and resources at the hospital so all patients can experience better care. Coupled with Labor’s pledge to invest more in Caboolture Hospital, the clinic will deliver tangible benefits to everyone in Longman.

Labor is putting investments in health and hospitals first – and we can afford to do this because unlike Turnbull, we aren’t giving a $17 billion handout to the banks.

THURSDAY, 12 JULY 2018