NSW Urgent Care Services
Last updated June 12, 2024
Urgent Care Services have been introduced in New South Wales (NSW) to help reduce pressure on emergency departments.
These services give people the treatment they need quickly for an illness or injury that is not an emergency, without waiting in a busy emergency department.
Many of these services have medical practitioners and diagnostic equipment including x-ray, pathology, and can therefore treat a variety of conditions.
The Urgent Care System is intended to complement the role of primary care providers, by improving access to urgent care in appropriate community and virtual settings.
Primary care providers are the coordinators of their patients’ healthcare, and Urgent Care Services support this by providing short-term episodic care for urgent illnesses or injuries, with referral of patients back to their primary care provider for ongoing care and care navigation.
Eligibility
You may be eligible to access an Urgent Care Service if you are:
- a resident living in a community located in NSW or near its border
- experiencing an acute injury or illness that is not an emergency
- needing medical treatment in the next 2 to 12 hours; and
- unable to get an appointment with your own General Practitioner (GP) or at nearby medical centres.
How to access
Please call healthdirect on 1800 022 222 for free at anytime (24 hours a day, 7 days a week).
A registered nurse (RN) will answer your call and ask you some questions about your condition.
Depending on the assessment made by the RN, you may be referred to an Urgent Care Service.
If you are referred to an Urgent Care Service, the RN will provide you the details to access the service.
Depending on your condition, the RN may recommend an alternative treatment option for you.
Why access an Urgent Care Service?
By accessing an Urgent Care Service instead of an emergency department for urgent health issues that are not life-threatening, people get the treatment they need and avoid waiting in a busy emergency department. This takes pressure off emergency departments, allowing them to focus on the most critically ill or injured patients.
The hospital care system in NSW continues to experience high demand for care, with many people presenting to emergency departments with urgent care needs that are not life-threatening.
Urgent Care Services relieve pressure on busy emergency departments and the hospital care system by expanding access to urgent care in community and virtual settings where people can be treated quickly and appropriately.
This frees up capacity in emergency departments and within hospitals to focus on the most critically ill or injured patients.