![Dapto Medical and Dental Centre is now also operating as the state's newest urgent care centre. Picture by Adam McLean Dapto Medical and Dental Centre is now also operating as the state's newest urgent care centre. Picture by Adam McLean](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/HcD9H4nNcktxiWcmkEEpQD/c1e54ba7-e2a4-41e1-a273-8cffe03a0bcc.jpg/r0_307_6000_3694_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Residents of southern Wollongong will once again have access to extended-hours, bulk-billed medical care with the opening of the region's third urgent care centre.
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Located at Dapto Medical and Dental Centre in the town centre, which used to offer late-night walk-in GP appointments, the new NSW Government service is designed to take the pressure off Wollongong and Shellharbour emergency departments.
Health minister Ryan Park said it was designed for conditions - including wounds, minor burns, infections, sprains, minor breaks, gastroenteritis, rashes and conjunctivitis - which can be safely treated outside the ED.
"Urgent Care Services make it simple and easy for patients to access high quality urgent care," he said.
"We can also take some of the pressure off our busy local hospitals through service like this one here at Dapto, by reducing unnecessary ED presentations."
Last week, Wollongong Hospital posted its highest-ever annual average time between arriving and leaving the ED, with the median patient waiting almost five hours from the start to end of their treatment.
Some patients, especially those needing to be admitted, waited far longer - one in ten patients needing a bed in the hospital waited just under 28 hours to leave the ED.
![New urgent care centre to give Dapto residents bulk-billed GP appointments New urgent care centre to give Dapto residents bulk-billed GP appointments](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/HcD9H4nNcktxiWcmkEEpQD/68ab03cd-bf9d-48bc-b608-cacac730a99c.jpg/r0_313_6000_3688_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Mr Park said significant factor in the record demand on hospitals like Wollongong was the proportion of cases that could be treated in primary care settings.
He noted almost half of all presentations to EDs across NSW were either category 4 (e.g. sprained ankle, earache) or category 5 (e.g. small cuts or abrasions), which can be treated in urgent care.
Whitlam MP Stephen Jones said he wanted residents of Dapto, one of the fastest-growing areas in NSW, to have better access to free care with the new service.
"With this new urgent care service, locals can access medical care which will ease the burden on our emergency departments in Shellharbour and Wollongong," Mr Jones said.
However, patients are unable to use urgent care as a proxy GP appointment and must be assessed to see if they meet the requirements before they can be treated under the urgent care model.
How to access Dapto Urgent Care Centre
To access the service, patients should call Healthdirect on 1800 022 222 and a registered nurse will assess the patient's condition.
They may then book an appointment on the patient's behalf or escalate their care to other services like NSW Ambulance if required.
The bulk-billed service will be open every day from 8am - 8pm and will be staffed by GPs and nurses.
Three urgent care cares now open
A Corrimal urgent care centre opened in July, and is one of 14 federally-funded Medicare clinics to open across NSW.
The Dapto centre is a state-funded urgent care centre - one of 25 to be delivered by 2025 - and is delivered in partnership with the local primary health network and supported by the federal government.
![Cunningham MP Alison Byrnes attended the opening of the new Corrimal service in July. Picture by Sylvia Liber Cunningham MP Alison Byrnes attended the opening of the new Corrimal service in July. Picture by Sylvia Liber](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/HcD9H4nNcktxiWcmkEEpQD/aa42445c-ae24-4a64-9a38-3b9e82264912.jpeg/r0_0_1200_677_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Both are similar to the state health district-run Bulli Urgent Care, which is open Monday to Saturday at Bulli Hospital.
At the opening of the Corrimal centre, For Health's Director of Urgent Care Simon Cross said it would be able to treat about four patients an hour, which could take up to 12,000 patients out of the ED each year.
Mr Cross said the average time between arrival and leaving at urgent care centres was between 45 to 90 minutes - significantly shorter than the median wait of just under five hours at Wollongong ED.
What conditions can be treated at an urgent care centre:
- Illnesses with respiratory symptoms (e.g. cough, wheezing)
- Diarrhoea and vomiting
- Skin rashes, including cellulitis
- Suspected fractures, sprain and dislocations
- Lacerations/cuts which need stitches
- Removal of foregin objects from skin, eys, ears
- Burns
- Bites
- Conditions (e.g. ear infection) where antibiotics are urgently required
The urgent care centre is located at Dapto Medical and Dental Centre, Cnr Princes Highway and Bong Bong Road and is free with a Medicare Card.