The plight of the anonymous patient has been highlighted by the National Rural Health Alliance ahead of Friday's Senate inquiry hearing on Medicare access in the bush.
The patient first went to their local clinic to seek treatment for a skin infection, but was referred to a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic because the local doctors were fully booked.
At the Urgent Care Clinic, the patient was told the infection was serious enough to warrant a visit to the nearest emergency department.
But after lengthy travel and delays, the patient was told there were no beds available and was instead sent home with a prescription.
"The rural resident spoke of the stress and trauma of attempting to navigate geographically dispersed services in a time of illness, and the overwhelming complication of attempting to access care in a fragmented system," the alliance's submission to the inquiry said.
Although a national roll-out of Medicare clinics had been a promising move, many clinics outside the cities could not find enough staff and relied on expensive locum doctors, the alliance said.Â
"Building the local workforce, rather than relying on locums ... must always be the priority," said the submission from the alliance, which represents 57 national health groups.
"This is because it stops the discontinuation of care and the never-ending revolving door of workforce turnover, builds trust and relationships locally due to the understanding of the local culture, situation and services."
The clinics were established by the federal government to ease the enduring pressure on hospital emergency departments.
Rural and remote Australians have higher rates of avoidable hospital presentations, according to figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Those living in remote areas had almost double the rate of lower-urgency emergency department presentations than people in regional areas in 2023-24.
The Australian Medical Association said the government's $8.5 billion investment in Medicare and workforce initiatives was welcome, but well-funded general practice would reduce avoidable hospital admissions.
It called for expanded Medicare settings that would allow GPs to work after hours, boosting continuity of care.
The federal health department's submission said its approach to improving health care outside the cities was "system-wide, long-term and reform-focused".
"It recognises that primary care service delivery models operating in our cities may not be viable in some parts of regional, rural and remote Australia."
