Govt warned on clinic numbers

But the government went ahead with plans to open Australia's first nurse-led walk-in clinic with the stated hope that it would reduce pressure on the emergency department.

The Canberra Hospital Emergency Department Strategic Plan: Triage Category, Performance Times was sent in May 2009 to then ACT Health chief executive Mark Cormack. The document, which has been released to the Canberra Liberals under freedom of information laws, warned that walk-in clinics might play an appropriate role as a nurse-led model of care, but would not help the emergency department.

''They should not be regarded a strategy that will contribute to ED performance,'' the strategy document said.

The document also stated that the clinics were ''not expected to produce any improvement in performance, based on publications, and experience worldwide. Will also not target the majority of the [Triage Category] 3&4 patients that are the clear group requiring intervention''.

Chief Minister Katy Gallagher said yesterday the clinic had seen almost 33,000 patients since it opened in 2010 and had improved community access to primary healthcare, particularly after hours.

But opposition health spokesman Jeremy Hanson said Ms Gallagher had been caught out misleading the community.

''Katy Gallagher owes an explanation to the community [as] to why it is she has been misleading them about what the walk-in clinic is going to do. She's been contradicting the advice entirely,'' Mr Hanson said.

Ms Gallagher said the walk-in clinic had been extremely successful since it had opened in May 2010 but it was no secret that some people in the health sector had opposed the centre.

''I don't think there was any secret that the ED doctors did not think that it would relieve pressure from the emergency department,'' she said.

''It is a well-integrated piece of our public health system now and it's very, very successful.''

The walk-in clinic offers free, one-off treatment for patients with minor injuries and illness.

Ms Gallagher said demand for emergency department services had grown strongly since 2010 and it was impossible to prove conclusively what impact the walk-in clinic had had on the rate of growth.

''At a time of unprecedented demand for emergency department services it is hard to measure how much busier the ED would have been without the walk-in centre,'' she said.

Mr Hanson said Canberra Hospital acute care executive director Kate Jackson would have been aware that the walk-in centre would fail to relieve pressure on the ED.

''This employee was forced to refer emergency department patients to the centre, placing them in an impossible situation that they knew would not help the shocking emergency department waiting times,'' Mr Hanson said.

Ms Gallagher said patients were referred from the emergency department to the walk-in clinic and vice versa, as appropriate.

When the walk-in centre opened in May 2010, Ms Gallagher said in a media release: ''Substantial work has gone into this model of care which aims to reduce pressures on other services such as emergency departments and improve access to primary care in Canberra.''