"Dismissive experience"

I called the number to the Clinic, was automatically transferred to HealthDirect and a nurse assessed me, who then referred me to attend the Caringbah Urgent Care Clinic. At the Clinic, I was assessed by a nurse, who said that, based on their assessment, I should see the doctor. Everything until here was very quick and efficience. However, the doctor then saw me and dismissed, saying I should see a GP the following day instead because my condition didn’t need urgent care.

This was very frustrating. I was referred first to the Urgent Care Clinic by HealthDirect, to which I quickly travelled (which cost me money), and was then assessed again by the nurse in the clinic, only to be seemingly dismissed by the doctor with no script for my symptoms. The whole reason I sought to go to the clinic in the first place was because the only medical centers open in the area after 6pm were by booking only, and were fully booked.

What is the point of two assessments only to be dismissed by the doctor? While I understand there were potentially patients with more urgent injuries than me, isn’t that the point of the pre-doctor assessments (two of them?) Instead, I feel my time and money was wasted, my symptoms persist, and the doctor’s time, it seemed, was also wasted.

I suggest clarifying the remit of urgent care clinics to both would-be patients and nurses conducting screening assessments. Are they quasi-emergency departments? If they are, I believe both HealthDirect and nurses should not refer patients appropriate for a GP to them, and medical centres should be available for walk-ins after 6pm. If they are instead after-hours GPs (for people with immediate and painful symptoms), I feel this should be clarified, and doctors shouldn’t seemingly dismiss patients without assisting them.