The college has placed nationally consistent standards for urgent care clinics at the top of its agenda.
In its latest position statement, the RACGP has called for nationally consistent urgent care standards and warned that new investment in urgent care must not come at the expense of general practice.
In May, the RACGP formally announced it would develop profession-led standards for nationally consistent urgent care – a considerable shift from its initial expression of “significant concerns” in 2024.
This followed the federal government’s $1.8 billion investment over five years from 2025-26, with ongoing funding of more than $525 million annually from 2030-31, to make the clinics a permanent, bulk-billed alternative to hospital emergency departments.
But without strong integration into general practice, the RACGP warned UCCs may only duplicate services, fragment care and contribute to greater health system inefficiency.
RACGP president Dr Michael Wright told The Medical Republic it was “critical” to develop integrated UCC models, with GPs remaining at the centre of operations.
“The type of services provided in urgent care clinics is fully within the remit of what we do in general practice,” he said.
“We’re really trying to work with government and the providers to develop clear standards, which include how practices communicate and coexist.”
National guidelines, the RACGP statement read, would help “translate policy intent into assessable expectations”, and provide accreditors with a common benchmark across all urgent care models.
“Standards establish handover and integration as core safety requirements rather than discretionary practices,” the statement read.
Once published, the national framework would form the basis of a future fit-for-purpose UCC accreditation framework, the college said.
The date for publishing the standards had not been set, Dr Wright told TMR.
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The college also called for more flexible funding models that supported urgent care across dedicated UCCs, ACCHOs and existing practices, but warned that any new investment must not come at general practice’s expense.
“Investment in UCCs should not occur at the expense of strengthening general practice and ACCHO services, which remain the most cost-effective and sustainable models of care,” the statement read.
The RACGP recommended reforming MBS funding for after-hours care and updating the definition of the after-hours period to begin at 5 pm on weekdays and to include all of Saturday.
“If more GPs and general practices are supported to deliver urgent care, patients will be able to access care from their usual GP, improving continuity of care and reducing demand on hospitals,” the statement read.
The college said alternative funding models were essential in rural and remote communities to avoid “widening inequalities”, where GPs were already the “backbone of urgent and after-hours care”.
“We’ve got more trained expert generalists across the country in settings all across the country, and it’s really important that we make the most of them to provide this urgent care,” Dr Wright said.
While he acknowledged the role of UCCs in easing mounting pressures on hospitals and addressing the growing demands of an ageing population, questions remained about their broader system impacts.
A recent evaluation of 87 Medicare UCCs between June 2023 and August 2025 found the clinics reduced urgent care presentations at hospitals by approximately 10%, and just 65% of presentations included a handover to the patient’s usual GP.
“One of the concerns many GPs have had, and even those working in UCCs, is the potential for fragmentation of care,” Dr Wright said.
“We need to know what our communities need and design services that meet those needs.”
The college said it would examine remaining evidence gaps on UCCs, including their cost-effectiveness compared with existing general practice and after-hours care, effects on health inequities and continuity of care, and the effectiveness of registrar training.
Read the full position statement here.
