A new Medicare Urgent Care Clinic has opened in Woden, providing walk-in, bulk-billed care for non-life-threatening illnesses and injuries.

The clinic, at 33 Colbee Court, Phillip, is open seven days a week for extended hours, with no appointment required.

The GP-led service is designed to treat urgent but non-emergency conditions such as cuts, viral infections and sprains, easing pressure on Canberra Hospital, where around 44 per cent of emergency department presentations in 2023–24 were for semi-urgent or non-urgent conditions.

ACT Senator Katy Gallagher said the clinic would give Canberrans access to “fast, free care” when health issues could not wait but were not life-threatening.

She said the Woden clinic would ease pressure on Canberra Hospital while strengthening Medicare in the ACT.

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler described the clinic as “a game changer for families in Canberra”, saying it would help free up hospital staff to care for patients with more serious conditions.

The Woden clinic joins an existing network of Medicare Urgent Care Clinics in Gungahlin, Belconnen, Dickson, Weston Creek and Tuggeranong. More than 100 clinics have now been established nationwide, as the government aims for four in five Australians to live within a 20-minute drive of one.

New data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows non-urgent presentations to Canberra emergency departments have fallen by 3.9 per cent since the rollout of the clinics.

Local MP David Smith said the opening of the clinic was “a huge win for our community”, allowing people to “walk in, get quality care, and head home without an ED wait or an out-of-pocket bill”.

Since the first Medicare Urgent Care Clinics opened in June 2023, more than 2.2 million people have been treated nationwide, including more than 279,000 presentations in the ACT.

The Woden Medicare Urgent Care Clinic is commissioned by Capital Health Network.