A medical centre focused on providing urgent care to ease pressure on Ballarat Base Hospital is one of five new Victorian clinics announced by the state government.
General practitioners will run the Priority Primary Care Centre to treat conditions like infections, fractures and burns that require an urgent but not an emergency response.
The Ballarat clinic will be the only centre in regional Victoria.
Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said the clinics would take pressure off hospital emergency departments.
"[It] will deliver that care that you need if a child falls off a skateboard or you cut your finger while preparing the veggies for the evening," Ms Thomas said.
"These are the sort of accidents ... as well as household infections, that every family has experienced."
Funding to extend GP hours
Ballarat's Priority Primary Care Centre is expected to be open by November, with staff able to treat 300 people each week.
Buninyong MP Michaela Settle said the exact location of the Ballarat centre had not yet been announced, but it would be at an existing general practice clinic near the Ballarat Base Hospital.
The state government funding will resource the clinic for urgent care and extend operations to 16 hours a day, seven days a week for walk-ups, referrals and pre-booked appointments.
Ms Thomas said Victorian emergency departments had experienced a 5.1 per cent increase in presentations over the past three months.
"What we need to ensure is we continue to deliver life-saving care for those presenting with life-threatening conditions, be that cardiac arrest or severe trauma," she said.
Premier Daniel Andrews said many people who went to emergency departments felt they had no other choice.
"If you can't find a bulk billing doctor, they have to go to the hospital emergency department and that's not always the appropriate place to be," Mr Andrews said.
"Ultimately it is about getting people the right care at the right time, as close to home as possible."
Other centres will be located near the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Northern Hospital in Epping, Sunshine Hospital and Monash Medical Centre in Clayton.
Ms Thomas said the locations were chosen because of high demand and community needs.
Increase in life-saving care
Health performance statistics reveal the overall number of people presenting to the Ballarat Base Hospital emergency department dropped in the last quarter compared to the same time last year.
But there has been an increase in the number of patients requiring immediate life-saving care, putting increased pressure on staff.
There has also been a decrease in the percentage of patients treated within target times, which fell to 34 per cent in the last quarter.
The hospital declared a code yellow in April and June this year, an internal emergency declaration which meant staff were redirected to the most urgent areas of care and service delivery.
The Priority Primary Care Centre funding was included in the 2022-23 Victorian budget.
The Ballarat Base Hospital is currently undergoing a $541 million redevelopment which will be completed in 2027.
