Canberra's general practitioners have thrown their support behind the government's plan for five new walk-in centres, on the grounds they won't be like the ACT's existing ones.
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GPs have, for years, derided the territory's walk-in centres as a bad use of money and resources.
But Australian Medical Association ACT president Dr Antonio Di Dio said he expected the new ones would be different.
"The [Health Minister] has given us an assurance that they are not actually walk-in centres as the previous ones have been, but rather they are going to be facilities where there will be an opportunity for patients to get integrated care," Dr Di Dio said.
"They will be facilities whereby there will be a connection between acute care, specialist services and other allied services which have not yet been clarified.
"We think that they'll be better, because they're going to be delivering a different kind of integrated service that will hopefully integrate with general practice, rather than compete with general practice."
The backing from the medical association came after a Legislative Assembly committee also showed its support for the proposed new walk-in centres on Tuesday.
The standing committee on health and well-being recommended the ACT build new walk-in centres, in line with the government's promise to build them in South Tuggeranong, West Belconnen, the inner south, Gungahlin, and Coombs.
So far, it's just the $250,000 Coombs clinic that has been given an opening date: July 1 this year.
An ACT government spokeswoman said while the centre would provide maternal and child health services, its "exact scope and model of care, including additional services", was still being developed.
The government had invested $2 million to do feasibility studies and site selections for locations other than Coombs, and each centre could potentially have a different focus.
"The purpose of the new walk-in health centres is to provide services based on the healthcare needs of a particular region," the spokeswoman said.
"These centres will complement the existing walk-in Centres, providing access to immediate care as well as appointment-based services."
The Labor government did flag, during last year's ACT election, that while the new walk-in centres would have some element of immediate treatment, that would vary depending on local need.
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But ACT opposition health spokeswoman Giulia Jones believed some Canberrans were likely misled by the language Labor used, and thought the new centres would act like existing ones.
Existing walk-in centres treat minor illnesses and can deal with cuts, abrasions, strains and sprain and minor limb fractures as well as wound dressings, some X-rays and plastering and emergency contraception, among other issues, and are free.
"The additional centres will not be your standard nurse-led walk-in centre like the new ones that have been built in the last few years - they'll be something else," Mrs Jones said.
"What they each are is very much up in the air.
"I just that they're muddying the waters on purpose to make it sound like they're building five new nurse-led walk-in centres and then they can reel that back after the election and say, actually, it'll be something else."
Mrs Jones said she liked the idea of the new centres, but was concerned they wouldn't be what Canberrans had initially expected.
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