Two new urgent care clinics will open in Sydney’s inner south next week in a bid to ease increasing pressure on the city’s emergency departments as the number of new influenza cases continues to rise rapidly.
The latest NSW Health respiratory report, for the week ending June 29, reveals a 35 per cent increase in influenza cases in one week, with the bulk in young people aged under 16.
Whooping cough and pneumonia remain “unseasonably high” in school-aged children, the report says. While high levels of COVID-19 are still circulating, rates are declining and presentations to emergency departments for the virus decreased. Hospital admissions were stable.
New urgent care clinics in Sydney’s inner south will take pressure off EDs as flu swirls through the city.Credit: Louie Douvis
“Influenza-like illness ED presentations and admissions continued to increase. Presentations and admissions for bronchiolitis in young children remain at a high level,” the report says.
In a bid to take strain off emergency department, new clinics will open at Green Square and Belmore on July 15, operating daily from 8am to 8pm.
They will be staffed by GPs and nurses, and diagnostic services including radiology and pathology will be available close to the centres.
The clinics are designed to treat wounds needing stitches, suspected broken bones and skin infections that need antibiotics without patients visiting hospital emergency departments.
Health care at Green Square and Belmore urgent care clinics will be bulk-billed.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said the clinics would make it easier for more people to receive treatment for minor complaints closer to home.
“At a time when our EDs are packed and it’s difficult to find a GP, this government is delivering alternative pathways to healthcare, so people across the state get the timely healthcare they deserve,” Minns said.
Health Minister Ryan Park said the health care system was under immense pressure due to a “huge volume of respiratory viruses circulating in the community”.
While pneumonia rates are high in young children, the rates of RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) are decreasing or stabilising, according to the report.
“COVID positivity has remained stable over the last six weeks. Influenza test positivity increased in the last week. RSV test positivity has decreased over the last six weeks”. COVID-19 rates were up 2 per cent in the most recent weekly reporting period, while RSV was down 7 per cent, the report says.
NSW Health is partnering with primary health networks to deliver additional urgent care services across the state, and the government has committed $124 million over two years to deliver 25 clinics in NSW by mid-2025. It is also supported by funding from the commonwealth government.
The government will also spend more than $170 million to expand virtual care services, which it estimates will help 180,000 people each year avoid a trip to an emergency department.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.