Canberra Hospital’s ED is increasingly under pressure. Photo: James Coleman.
A free new walk-in medical service will open in Woden in coming weeks, offering an alternative to the Canberra Hospital Emergency Department for non-life-threatening conditions.
Phillip Medical and Dental Centre has been selected to operate the new bulk-billing Woden Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, after a competitive tender process led by the ACT Primary Health Network.
The announcement comes as new data shows a steady increase in presentations to Canberra emergency departments in recent years.
The GP-led Woden Medicare Urgent Care Clinic will be co-located at 33 Colbee Court, Phillip and operate seven days a week on extended hours.
The centre has a team of 13 GPs, according to its website.
A Federal Government statement said the clinic would help to ease pressure on the Canberra Hospital emergency department (ED), where about 44 per cent of presentations in 2023-24 were for semi-urgent or non-urgent conditions.
New data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows a steady increase in presentations to Canberra emergency departments, from 143,693 in 2021-22 to 167,603 in 2024-25, including a 7.4 per cent rise in the past financial year.
All categories increased except non-urgent cases, which fell slightly from 11,664 in 2022-23 to 10,390 in 2024-25. This could be attributed to people using the ACT’s nurse-led walk-in centres or the other Medicare Urgent Care Clinics established by the Albanese Government.
Despite the overall increase, Canberra EDs managed to increase the proportion of patients seen on time, from 48 per cent in 2021-22 to 62 per cent in 2023-24 and 2024-25, showing that Canberra Health Services’ (CHS) reforms are bearing fruit.
But CHS will be hoping the new Woden clinic can help ED performance improve further.
It will complement the existing network of five Medicare Urgent Care Clinics across Canberra, including Gungahlin, Belconnen, Dickson, Weston Creek and Tuggeranong.
More than 95 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics have opened across Australia and have seen more than 2.2 million presentations since the first sites opened in June 2023, including more than 279,000 presentations to the existing ACT clinics.
The Commonwealth is spending $1.4 billion over seven years to establish and operate the clinics around Australia.
This includes $644.3 million over three years from the 2025-26 Budget to establish 50 additional clinics to expand the current network of 87 to a total of 137 nationwide.
The clinics provide urgent care for non-life threatening illnesses and injuries such as as closed fractures, wounds and minor burns. These services are bulk billed, resulting in no out-of-pocket costs to patients.
Labor ACT Senator Katy Gallagher said the clinic would take real pressure off the Canberra Hospital emergency department by treating urgent but non-life-threatening issues seven days a week.
“Canberrans deserve timely, affordable care close to home,” she said. “The new Woden Medicare Urgent Care Clinic will give families a place to walk in, be seen quickly and be fully bulk billed with just a Medicare card.”
Federal Health Minister Butler said the clinic would fill an important gap in services across extended hours and over the weekend.
Labor Member for Bean David Smith said Southside families had been asking for faster, easier access to urgent care and this clinic delivered exactly that for Woden and the Tuggeranong Valley.
“When the doors open in January, people will be able to walk in, get quality care, and head home without an ED wait or an out-of-pocket bill,” he said.
