One of 50 urgent care clinics promised by the federal Labor party would be established on Canberra's southside in the first year of an Albanese government, ACT representatives announced on Friday.
The centre would bulk-bill, a service most Canberrans struggle to access, and ACT Senator Katy Gallagher said it would "utilise the skills and staff we already already have and provide it in a different way".
"We've modelled this particular model on existing general practice, and the way that they work, so they can come up with innovative ways that they want to extend their hours when we provide them with the funding to do that," Senator Gallagher said.
"I imagine they will be needing extra staff, whether it's registered nurses, enrolled nurses, advanced practice nurses, GPs, trainee GPs," Senator Gallagher said.
"You've got to utilise your existing staff to provide the service, but there is a funding guarantee there should they need extra staff for them to employ them."
Labor has promised $135 million for the total 50 centres across the country and Senator Gallagher said, on average, grants in that scheme would total $700,000.
The announcement comes as health care professionals are stretched thin across the capital, with an already strained workforce facing COVID-induced shortages in what has been described as a "the perfect storm".
The ACT government-run inner north walk-in clinic in Dickson remains closed after staff were redeployed to work at the Garran surge centre to meet demand there.
The new centre would be modelled on the ACT government-run walk-in centres and would provide care for non-life-threatening injuries seven days a week, from at least 8am to 10pm.
A site for the centre, and patient capacity, have not yet been determined, though federal ACT Labor has committed to a southside location.
Member for Canberra Alicia Payne said the centre would "take the pressure off the hospital system and make it easier for Canberrans to see a doctor".
