Urgent care clinics will be extended to existing GP clinics and major hospitals in WA to take the pressure off emergency departments if Labor wins the March state election, but the health minister says the plan is short on details.
Opposition Leader Mark McGowan said Labor's policy ensured non-priority patients in hospitals would not have to sit in emergency rooms for hours waiting for treatment.
Those patients would instead be triaged at the hospital and then taken to the urgent care clinic for further assessment by a GP and nurses.
The community-based urgent care clinics will work with local emergency departments and have a direct line of communication, which will allow the clinic to prioritise patients referred to the hospital if their condition deteriorates or they require a higher level of care.
The clinics based in the community will be bulk billed through Medicare.
"It's about fixing the ramping problem without spending a fortune and making sure taxpayers get value for money," Mr McGowan told reporters on Sunday.
"If it imposes additional cost on the Commonwealth, so be it. They're the ones who are cutting hospital funding."
The plan would be an extension of the centres currently run by St John Ambulance.
St John Ambulance recently acquired Apollo Health, which operates primary health clinics in Armadale, Cannington, Cockburn and Joondalup.
Opposition health spokesman Roger Cook hopes to open at least 12 urgent care clinics.
"We've been in discussions with St John Ambulance and they're starting to provide the sort of services that we envisage will be broadened out under this policy," he told reporters.
"St John's have an ambition to set up four urgent care clinics - two are open so far.
"Of those two, on Monday when our EDs were in crisis as a result of the demand on those emergency departments, St John's was successful in diverting over 100 patients from just that single day alone to two of those clinics, so we know that this a formula which works."
Labor says its $2 million plan will also include an awareness campaign.
But Health Minister John Day said Labor's plan was short on detail and funding, and seemed to be a rehash of GP after hours clinics at hospitals, which were primarily a Commonwealth responsibility and had had limited success in WA.
Mr Day said there were almost 150 aged care patients in Perth's public hospitals and having beds for those people would better help emergency departments.
"That's why the state is meeting with the Commonwealth this week to try to fast-track more aged care beds in the community," he said.
"We have started planning to buy an additional 75 beds. We are seeking appropriate Commonwealth funding for this but are already trying to source these beds, with the state initially funding them due to the pressures on EDs."
Mr Day said 20 additional beds had been purchased in the past two weeks.
