ACT nurse led Walk-in Centres (WiC) are unique to Canberra, pioneering nurse led primary healthcare caring for minor illness and injury. With increasing burdens placed on Emergency departments and strains on General Practitioner services, this innovative service provides a free quality alternate healthcare options for consumers.

Being a nurse led service WiCs have always been under significant scrutiny and were established as risk adverse. Since their inception 15 years ago, however, the scope of practice and model of care has significantly increased, vastly expanding nurses' ability to manage a wider variety of conditions autonomously.

WiCs are staffed by Advanced Practice Nurses who provide care within set clinical treatment protocols, and Nurse practitioners. Though the service prides itself in being nurse led, it is a highly collaborative service, with regular referrals and consultation processes with specialties such as orthopaedics, plastics, ophthalmology, mental health services, ENT and GPs.

In 2024, with a heavy burden of phone consultations with orthopaedics, it became evident that a more streamlined referral process was required between WiC and orthopaedics. In consultation with advanced practice physiotherapists and the orthopaedic team, treatment and referral pathways were designed to facilitate ongoing autonomous management by WiC staff of orthopaedic cases. Extended radiology services and advanced practice physiotherapists were then integrated in the WiC to help facilitate this referral process and enrich services provided to the ACT community.

This is a story of collaboration within the multidisciplinary team to expand the scope of practice in nurse led walk in centres in order to improve access to healthcare in the ACT.