Orange and communities across the Central West are expected to benefit from a range of health investments in the 2024-25 NSW Budget recently announced by the Minns Labor Government aimed at creating more pathways for people needing health services and reducing hospital emergency department (ED) wait times.
Regional Health Minister Ryan Park toured local health facilities and met with staff in the central west this week alongside Member for Orange Phil Donato, to talk about what the NSW health budget means for them and the local community.
The latest Bureau of Health Information data for the March 2024 quarter shows attendances to the ED at Orange Health Service increased by 4.1 per cent from the same period last year, to almost 8,000.
Hospitals across the state including in Orange are facing enormous pressure.
The 2024-25 NSW Budget includes funding boosts to connect more people with high quality, accessible and timely care, by expanding alternatives to the ED through investments in urgent care services, expanding services accessed via Healthdirect through the Single Front Door, and a Bulk Billing Support Initiative for GPs.
Urgent care services across NSW will receive $100 million in funding to continue supporting the community for a further two years, providing a pathway to care outside of hospitals. The Orange Urgent Care Service has already seen around a thousand visits since opening in March this year, helping many avoid a trip ED.
A $171.4 million investment will expand the 'Single Front Door', introducing additional virtual care services to the Healthdirect service accessible on 1800 022 222 - meaning that the community in Orange and the Central West can access the same quality care that they do around the state. Access to mental health services will now also be available through Healthdirect for the first time.
The Single Front Door is a single point of advice, assessment, triage and referral for people in NSW with urgent non-life threatening conditions, helping thousands avoid a trip to the ED.
The Minns Labor Government is also supporting GPs with an estimated $188.8 million investment as part of the Bulk-Billing Support Initiative, ensuring that primary health care services remain accessible to families and households.
This will protect the cost of seeing a GP for families and households, reduce the strain on emergency departments and save hundreds of clinics from closure.
The bulk billing rate across the Western NSW Public Health Network is currently 82.2%, well above 70% threshold for clinics with contractor GPs to receive the new, ongoing rebate.
The investments in the 2024-25 NSW Budget build on the NSW Government's work to deliver the long-term repair and structural reform of healthcare across NSW, including:
- making 1,112 temporary nurses permanent including hundreds in rural and regional NSW;
- delivering an extra 500 regional paramedics. Of the first 125 rolled out this year, 15 are based in Parkes;
- abolishing the wages cap and delivering the highest wage increases for health workers in over a decade;
- doubling rural health incentives for our hardest to fill and most critical roles; and
- boosting doctors in our regional GP surgeries as well as hospitals through the single employer model.
Minister for Regional Health Ryan Park said:
"No matter where you live in across the state you should have access to essential healthcare.
"Our emergency departments across NSW including here in Orange face significant challenges, so we are making the necessary investments to relieve that pressure and provide more alternatives for the community.
"Whether it be through our urgent care services, expanding virtual care through the Single Front Door or protecting access to bulk billing GP services, the NSW budget's investment into health will be acutely felt in Orange and the Central West region.
"I want to thank Phil for welcoming me in his electorate and acknowledge his strong advocacy on behalf of his community."
Member for Orange Phil Donato said:
"The Orange Urgent Care Service provides an excellent alternative for people in my community with health issues that are urgent, especially if means they can avoid attending a busy ED.
"I'm also really pleased the expansion of virtual care from the NSW Government will especially benefit those in Orange and the communities of the Central West receive the care they need."
