Across the Gunnedah Shire, from Curlewis to Mullaley, our doctors assess car accident injuries by video and prepare your claim's Certificate of Fitness.
North West Slopes
Car accident doctor for the Gunnedah Shire: CTP injury care
Last updated , 9 min read
After a car accident anywhere in the Gunnedah Shire, our doctors can examine you over video, whether home is a street in town or a property out at Blue Vale or Emerald Hill. That saves a long drive while you're sore, in a shire that spreads across nearly 5,000 square kilometres of farmland and mine country. On that call we go over your injuries, plan treatment around harvest or a mine roster, and sort out your Certificate of Fitness. When a hands-on examination makes more sense, we'll tell you and help organise it. If your claim runs into a dispute, we can point you to independent legal help.
The Oxley and Kamilaroi highways meet in Gunnedah, so local cars share the main roads with coal trucks, grain haulage and travellers moving between Tamworth, Narrabri and Coonabarabran. Out on the Liverpool Plains around Breeza and Curlewis, or along Black Stump Way through Tambar Springs, people cover long distances at country speeds, often before dawn or after dark. Crashes like these can cause neck and back injuries that stiffen once the shock wears off, along with fractures, shoulder injuries and head knocks. Some people also feel anxious behind the wheel or sleep badly afterwards. Our physios and psychologists see people for both kinds of injury.
On this page8 sections
Local road safety
Where people are hurt on the roads in the Gunnedah Shire
Close to 170 people were injured or killed on Gunnedah Shire roads between 2020 and 2024, across a little over 120 crashes in Transport for NSW data. The Oxley Highway came up most, then the Kamilaroi Highway, with Wandobah Road, Bridge Street and Kelvin Road each appearing several times. Crashes were split fairly evenly between town streets and open country roads. Motorcycles were involved in about one in ten, and heavy vehicles in slightly more. For our doctors, that mix can mean whiplash and back strain from lower-speed impacts in town, shoulder and back injuries from open-road crashes, and the fractures and heavier injuries that can follow a motorbike fall or a collision with a truck.
| Year | Crashes where someone was hurt | Killed | Seriously injured | All casualties | All recorded crashes (including tow-away crashes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 30 | 1 | 14 | 41 | 37 |
| 2021 | 20 | 0 | 11 | 28 | 27 |
| 2022 | 25 | 1 | 14 | 36 | 30 |
| 2023 | 26 | 4 | 11 | 37 | 36 |
| 2024 | 20 | 3 | 6 | 25 | 26 |
| 2020 to 2024 | 121 | 9 | 56 | 167 | 156 |
Roads and streets with the most crashes where someone was hurt
- 1.Oxley Highway26 crashes
- 2.Kamilaroi Highway20 crashes
- 3.Wandobah Road5 crashes
- 4.Bridge Street5 crashes
- 5.Bloomfield Street4 crashes
Localities where people were hurt most often
Localities as recorded by Transport for NSW. A crash near the council boundary can carry the name of a locality next door.
- 1.Gunnedah74 crashes
- 2.Curlewis13 crashes
- 3.Carroll6 crashes
- 4.Breeza5 crashes
- 5.Ghoolendaadi3 crashes
Road-user mix. Of the 121 crashes where someone was hurt in 2020 to 2024, 10% involved a motorcycle, 2% a pedestrian, 3% a bicycle and 13% a heavy vehicle (a crash can involve more than one). Crashes in speed zones of 90 km/h or more made up 45% of the total.
Main roads through the Gunnedah Shire
- Oxley Highway
- Kamilaroi Highway
- Black Stump Way
Source: Transport for NSW, NSW Road Crash Data 2020 to 2024 (open data). Casualty crashes by LGA of crash. View the dataset (opens in a new tab)
First steps
After a crash in the Gunnedah Shire: getting checked and recorded
Your safety comes first, so ring 000 if anyone is seriously hurt. Get the other driver's details and registration, and photos of the vehicles if it's safe. If police didn't come to the scene, let them know about the crash and note the event number. Then have your injuries checked and written up, even if the pain seems minor at first, because neck and back pain often builds after a crash. Video consults with our doctors work as well past Mullaley as in town. Your claim rests with the CTP insurer covering the vehicle at fault.
Get safe, then get help
Call 000 if anyone is seriously hurt or in danger. For police attendance when it isn't an emergency, the Police Assistance Line is 131 444.
Report it and keep the event number
Report the crash to police if anyone was hurt, a driver left the scene or a car was towed. Keep the event number: the claim form asks for it.
Swap details and take photos
Get names, phone numbers, licence details and registration plates from every driver, and witnesses' details before they leave. Photograph the scene when it's safe.
See a doctor early
Ideally within a day or two, even if you feel fine. Pain often builds over the following days. An early appointment records your injuries and starts your Certificate of Fitness.
Which CTP insurer handles your claim
You claim with the CTP (green slip) insurer of the vehicle most at fault, worked out from its registration. If that vehicle can't be identified, the claim may go to the Nominal Defendant.
Lodge the claim form
The form is the Application for Personal Injury Benefits, backed by your Certificate of Fitness. Our step-by-step lodging guide walks through it.
Time limits
A claim served within 28 days of the accident can have benefits backdated to the accident date. A common reference point for lodging is three months from the accident. Your circumstances can change the dates, so confirm yours with SIRA or a solicitor.
CTP injury care
Car accident injury care for the Gunnedah Shire: your first appointment
An early medical record links your injuries to the crash, which the insurer will look for, and it means care can start sooner. At that first appointment, whether you join from Breeza, Carroll or town, our doctors examine you, fill in the Certificate of Fitness, draw up a treatment plan and write the records an insurer generally wants to see. Across a shire as spread out as Gunnedah's, that first consult is usually by telehealth, and physio, psychology and exercise physiology can follow by telehealth or as close to home as we can arrange. The crash pattern here suggests whiplash and back strain from town and highway impacts, plus injuries from motorcycle crashes and collisions with heavy vehicles working for farms and mines. The CTP insurer generally pays for treatment that is reasonable and necessary for your accident injuries; it decides what's approved, and its decisions can be reviewed.
Our CTP doctors see people injured in motor vehicle accidents across NSW. The first appointment does four jobs, and each one feeds the claim:
A proper assessment
The doctor takes a history of the crash, examines you and records a diagnosis for each injured area, including the ones that seem minor today.
Your Certificate of Fitness
The main medical document in a NSW CTP claim. It records your injuries, your capacity for work and what you can and can't do. The first one must come from a medical practitioner, and each one generally covers up to 28 days, so it's renewed as you recover. See what a Certificate of Fitness should include.
A treatment plan
What you need next, such as physiotherapy, psychology or exercise physiology, with clear reasons the insurer can act on.
The records the insurer asks for
Dated notes, referrals and reports that link your symptoms to the crash. Insurer decisions lean on them, so they need to be specific.
More detail: the CTP medical assessment, and physiotherapy, psychology and exercise physiology under CTP.
CTP injury care
Common injuries after crashes in the Gunnedah Shire
Every crash is different, but some injuries come up again and again after car crashes. Many don't show their full extent on the day:
- Whiplash and other neck injuries, common after rear-end collisions.
- Back injuries and other soft-tissue injuries: sprains and strains that stiffen over the following days.
- Fractures: most are obvious, but some in the wrist, foot or ribs are subtle and need imaging to confirm.
- Concussion and headaches, which can happen without a direct blow to the head.
- Psychological injury, such as anxiety about driving, poor sleep or flashbacks.
Our guide to car accident injuries and their symptoms covers the warning signs.
The road-user mix above shows who else gets hurt on the roads in the Gunnedah Shire. Each of these groups has its own injury pattern:
Heavy vehicles
Crashes with trucks involve more force, so injuries tend to be more serious, and the shock can linger. See psychological injury.
Motorcycles
Riders have little protection, so fractures and wrist, knee and ankle injuries are more common. See motorcycle accidents in NSW.
Been in an accident?
Book an appointment with one of our CTP doctors. We coordinate your care and handle the paperwork.
CTP-experienced doctorsCoordinated allied healthOne team
Book an AppointmentCTP benefits
What CTP pays for, and weekly payments
Approved treatment is generally arranged through the CTP scheme rather than paid by you directly. Depending on your injuries, it can include:
- Appointments with our CTP doctors, and specialist care where it's needed.
- Physiotherapy, psychology and exercise physiology with our allied health team.
- X-rays, scans and other imaging when they're clinically justified.
- Medication prescribed for your accident injuries.
- Reasonable travel to approved treatment, where the insurer agrees. Check its process first.
If your injuries stop you working, or cut your hours, weekly payments may be paid where the scheme rules allow. The amount is based on your pre-accident earnings, it steps down at set points, and there's a cap. Your Certificate of Fitness records your capacity for work, so keep it current. Being mostly at fault, or having an injury classified as minor, shortens how long some benefits run. See CTP weekly payments, minor vs non-minor injury and CTP benefits in NSW.
Booking
Telehealth or in person: how to book
Telehealth makes it simpler to see a CTP doctor from the Gunnedah Shire without a long drive while you're sore. Where an in-person examination is needed, we'll talk through the options when you book.
Book online or call
Use the booking form or call (02) 7238 7379.
We confirm by phone
We call to confirm the time, whether it's telehealth or in person, and what to bring.
Bring what you have
Photo ID, the police event number, a claim number if you already have one, any scans or hospital letters, and a list of your medications.
New to telehealth? Here's what to expect from a telehealth CTP appointment.
Around the area
Suburbs and towns across the Gunnedah Shire
These are some of the suburbs and towns in the Gunnedah Shire. We see people from all of them. Where we have a local page, the name is linked.
- Gunnedah
- Curlewis
- Carroll
- Tambar Springs
- Kelvin
- Mullaley
- Emerald Hill
- Breeza
- Marys Mount
- Ghoolendaadi
- Blue Vale
- Milroy
- Orange Grove
- Willala
- Rangari
- Keepit
Neighbouring council areas: Narrabri, Warrumbungle, Liverpool Plains, Tamworth Regional.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. If the mobile signal or farm internet holds up for a video call, our doctors can examine you, prepare the Certificate of Fitness and work out how treatment will run, without you leaving the property. If you need imaging or a hands-on examination, we'll explain why and work out the nearest practical option. It can spare you the drive into Gunnedah, or on to Tamworth, while you're still sore.
Yes, and soon. Whiplash-type pain often appears or worsens once the muscles tighten after a rear-end crash, so a late start is common. Seeing a doctor now means the injury is assessed and linked to the crash in your records. Our doctors can do that by telehealth from Gunnedah or wherever you are, and complete the Certificate of Fitness. CTP claims also run to time limits, so it's better not to wait for a stiff neck to ease before acting.
Statutory benefits can cover treatment, including physio and psychology, when the insurer accepts it as reasonable and necessary for your accident injuries. Living in Curlewis rather than a bigger centre doesn't change that. Our physios and psychologists work from your treatment plan and send progress notes the insurer can look at. If a request is declined, that decision can be reviewed. We'll talk through telehealth and in-person options that suit where you live.
No. You can book before you've lodged a claim. The Certificate of Fitness from your first appointment is one of the documents your claim needs, so the appointment often comes first.
Sources
- Transport for NSW: NSW Road Crash Data (open data) (opens in a new tab)
- SIRA: Motor accidents and CTP (green slip) information (opens in a new tab)
- SIRA: Certificates of fitness for motor crash injuries (opens in a new tab)
- SIRA: What you can claim, medical expenses (opens in a new tab)
- NSW Legislation: Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017 (opens in a new tab)
About the area
- Wikipedia: Gunnedah Shire (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Gunnedah (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Oxley Highway (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Kamilaroi Highway (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Gunnedah Airport (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Tambar Springs, New South Wales (opens in a new tab)
- ABS 2021 Census QuickStats (opens in a new tab)
Last checked:
General information, not legal advice. CTP Doctor is a medical clinic, not a law firm or an insurer, and this page isn't medical advice for your situation. For the scheme rules, see SIRA.
Keep reading
Guides for every stage of a CTP claim
CTP claims
Who can claim, how to lodge, and what happens after — in plain English.
Read the guide
CTP treatment
Our doctors assess you, write the Certificate of Fitness and plan the rest of your care.
Read the guide
Car accident injuries
What's common, what can show up days later, and when to get checked.
Read the guide
CTP benefits
The kinds of support the scheme provides, and what they depend on.
Read the guide
Legal help & disputes
When the claim gets difficult — and how to get independent legal advice.
Read the guide
Next step
See a CTP doctor after a crash in the Gunnedah Shire
Often seen within the week. Telehealth across NSW, or in person where appropriate. No claim number needed to start.