Ten Bunbury doctors have banded together to establish the clinic which runs out of the Bunbury Regional Hospital.

Brecken Healthcare’s Dr Brenda Morrison put her hand up for the opening shift on Monday, November 25 and ran the clinic again last night.

“It is definitely getting busier – I saw 15 patients last night,” Dr Morrison said.

“There was a constant flow of consultations but people weren’t having to wait long to be seen.”

At this stage, one doctor is available per shift and Dr Morrison said she is expecting a gradual increase in patient numbers.

“A lot of people going into the emergency department still have no idea we are there,” she said.

Dr Morrison said feedback from patients had been positive, especially from those who had relocated from Perth.

“People from metro areas expect an after-hours service to be available to them,” she said.

While the Bunbury after-hours clinic team have increased their weekly workload by about four hours, Dr Morrison said the service will attract young doctors to the area and consequently lighten the existing workforce’s load.

She said there were a number of local GPs who were waiting to sign on to the after-hours clinic.

“There are a lot who are sitting on the fence to see how it all goes but I expect an increase in doctors running the clinic over the next couple of months.”

The clinic was one of the beneficiaries of six grants worth $1.5 million under the State Government’s after-hours GP initiative.

Doctors are available at the clinic from 6pm to 10pm weeknights, 12noon to 8pm on Saturdays and 10am to 6pm on Sundays and public holidays.