URGENT care clinics in Mundaring and Ellenbrook are a step closer following tenders being called by the federal government.

The clinics will offer free treatment for minor injuries and illnesses as part of the federal government’s election commitment to fund 50 urgent cares clinics across the country including six in WA, which also include Bateman, Mirrabooka, Geraldton and Yanchep.

Tenders for the first three, which includes Mundaring, have opened and the others will go out next month.

The urgent care clinics have to be co-located or partnered with an existing general practice, with priority consideration given to those that already fully bulk-bill.

New guidelines for urgent care clinics issued this month say they must accept walk-ins and must bulk-bill patients, so no patients are out of pocket, including for the cost of imaging and pathology services covered by Medicare.

The clinics are expected to be open 14 hours a day, seven days a week, including public holidays, and have an X-ray machine on site or readily accessible.

Eight urgent care clinics already operate in WA and have served almost 200,000 patients since the first opened in May 2023.

The most used is in Rockingham, which has treated 34,000 people since mid-2023, followed by the clinic in Clarkson that opened about the same time.

The newest clinic, opened in Gosnells in May 2024, has treated just over 6800 people.

Almost one-third of visits to WA clinics were at weekends, and 20 per cent of those on weekdays were after 5pm.

“West Australians know that Medicare urgent care clinics have been a game changer for their community,” Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said.

“That’s why the Albanese Government decided to deliver another six in WA, so more people can get the care they need instead of waiting in a hospital emergency department.”