Paterson MP Meryl Swanson has called for an urgent care clinic in her electorate at Raymond Terrace, an area that missed out on the Medicare initiative.
Ms Swanson toured the area with federal Health Minister Mark Butler on Tuesday and urged him not to forget her electorate.
"I am absolutely calling for an urgent care clinic and I would love it to be here in Raymond Terrace," Ms Swanson said.
Mr Butler said he would "continue to talk" with Ms Swanson about "urgent care services in her electorate".
"We don't have funding right now for additional clinics," the Health Minister said.
The Albanese government has announced two rounds of these urgent care clinics over the past two years.
In its 2023 budget, it announced 58 clinics - one of which was established at Cessnock.
In its budget in May this year, a further 29 clinics were announced - with one to be established at Newcastle-Lake Macquarie.
Such clinics usually have one doctor, one nurse and one secretary and run from the morning to after hours.
The clinics see people for conditions such as upper respiratory infections, acute ear pain and rapid onset rashes.
Consultations require no appointments and are fully bulk-billed.
Many Hunter GP clinics now charge more than $100 for a standard consultation, with a Medicare rebate of $42.85.
The Health Minister toured the Raymond Terrace Family Practice, which now charges $102 for a standard consultation.
Asked about rising GP fees, Mr Butler said "in just two years, we increased the Medicare rebate by more than the former government did in nine years".
"We've delivered the two biggest increases in 30 years," Mr Butler said.
"But we also recognise that, although things are starting to turn around, bulk billing has stopped sliding and is increasing."
In response to such claims, Newcastle GPs have highlighted that bulk-billing in the area continued to be rare for standard consultations, except for the most disadvantaged people.
As the Health Minister toured the Raymond Terrace clinic, Dr Chris Boyle pinpointed earnings as a key issue in the GP shortage.
"The pay is inadequate for what we do," Dr Boyle said, adding GPs had "a really hard gig".
"We get paid about a third or a fourth of what specialists make. The young doctors say 'why do it'.
"When I graduated about 50 per cent of the year became GPs. Now under 15 per cent of medical students want to do general practice."
Mr Butler acknowledged the issue, but said there had been improvement.
"The number of junior doctors choosing general practice as their training option this year is up almost 20 per cent on last year," he said.
"We're also working really hard in the meantime to bring more overseas trained doctors into Australia, because we know that GPs don't grow on trees."
Asked if overseas doctors were a logical solution to the GP shortage, Mr Butler said "it's not a long-term solution".
"We want to make sure we're training our own GPs here in Australia as well, but we also know that will take some years to bear fruit.
"So, in the shorter term, we need to fill these gaps, particularly outside of our major cities, where it is harder to recruit GPs."
Mr Butler said the government was working hard to "cut red tape for overseas trained GPs, particularly from countries that have comparable qualifications".
He gave the examples of the UK, Ireland and New Zealand.
"We want to see more of them come, and when they do come, to be able to get onto the floor and practise as quickly and as cheaply as possible."
