St George Matters with Chris Minns: Delivering better health care for you and your family

Nothing is more important than the health and safety of you and your family.

It is the basic right of every Australian to be able to access the health care they need, when they need it.

That is why I am working hard to deliver better patient care, more support for our nurses and paramedics and build the infrastructure our local community needs.

After 12 years of Liberal Government our health system was in crisis. We had critical shortages of nurses, massive blowouts in surgery wait times and people unable to access treatment when they needed it.

Now I am taking action to fix this mess.

The first step I am taking is to provide incentives for GPs to bulk bill more patients. This is to ensure that visits to the doctor remain affordable and accessible for you.

My Government is also building more urgent care clinics right across NSW.

Urgent care clinics are free medical services that treat a range of illnesses and injuries that are serious, but not life-threatening.

A free centre has already opened its doors in Carlton.

What this means for you is the ability to access high quality healthcare faster without having to wait in an emergency department.

It is so important that we invest in our health infrastructure to ensure that our local hospitals provide you with the best possible care when you need it most.

In this year's budget, the State Labor Government invested $3 billion into upgrading our hospitals and health facilities, including a redevelopment to St

George Hospital and Canterbury Hospital.

Since being elected in March last year, the number of people waiting for overdue surgery has decreased by 92 per cent.

This is just the beginning. We still have a long way to go to repair our health system.

As Premier of NSW, I will do everything I can to build a strong health care system and ensure that every person in this state can access affordable medical treatment when they need it.