Tasmania’s first state-run ‘TassieDoc’ bulk-billing medical centre will open at the Burnie Health Hub by the end of the year if Labor wins government, the party has announced.
The clinic will offer free general practice appointments to help tackle what Labor says is a GP access crisis on the north-west coast, where residents can wait months for affordable care.
Labor’s Ella Haddad said the $1 million Burnie clinic would be the first of five planned across the state under a broader $25 million package.
“We know that accessing GP care is something that is really hard for people in Tasmania,” she said.
“That’s why, under a state-led Labor government, we’ll be providing bulk-billed appointments through state-run clinics.”
Under the plan, the state government would employ GPs directly and cover all practice costs, including equipment, nursing staff and admin.
“Not every GP wants to be a business owner, wants to have to worry about their costs of running a business,” Haddad said.
“This will be an attractive workforce model that will attract more GPs to come live and work in Tasmania.”
Jerome Wilson, co-founder of Burnie Health Hub, welcomed the move and said patients would benefit from greater access.
“We’re all about improving accessibility for healthcare and just reducing the cost barrier to access a GP is a great step in that direction,” he said.
In the future, the Health Hub hopes to offer pathology, pharmacy, urgent care and general practice services all under one roof.
Labor says the other clinics will use existing state-owned buildings wherever possible.
The clinics are expected to have extended opening hours, including evenings and weekends and each will host four full-time equivalent GPs.
Altogether, the clinics are expected to deliver around 100,000 extra bulk-billed GP appointments every year.
