Our CTP doctors assess people hurt on Upper Hunter roads by telehealth, from Scone and Aberdeen out to Merriwa, and complete the Certificate of Fitness.
Upper Hunter
Car accident doctor for the Upper Hunter Shire: CTP injury care
Last updated , 9 min read
After a crash in the Upper Hunter Shire, your CTP care can start with a telehealth consultation from home in Scone, Murrurundi or out near Bunnan, rather than a drive to Tamworth or Newcastle. Our doctor assesses your injuries, notes how they connect to the crash and completes the Certificate of Fitness the insurer needs. If you need ongoing care, the treatment plan can bring in our physios, psychologists and exercise physiologists, and we'll explain how CTP funding works. 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.
Distances in this shire are long. It stretches from the Liverpool Range near Murrurundi to the grazing country around Merriwa and Cassilis, and many of its roughly 14,000 residents live on properties well away from town. Getting anywhere means the New England Highway, the Golden Highway or the back roads out towards Moonan Flat and Ellerston, shared with stock trucks, horse floats and farm machinery. A long drive is hard going when your neck or back hurts after a crash. Telehealth cuts down those trips, and in-person care can be arranged when an examination needs it.
On this page8 sections
Local road safety
Where people are hurt on the roads in the Upper Hunter Shire
Speed shapes the injury picture in this shire. Transport for NSW figures covering 2020 to 2024 put about two in three injury crashes in 100 km/h zones, where a collision carries more force. The New England Highway, running through Wingen and Blandford north of Scone, logs more crashes than any other road, with the Golden Highway behind it. A motorbike was part of roughly one crash in six, so riders on the shire's open country roads turn up often in the data. Around two in five people hurt were recorded as seriously injured. Pedestrian crashes were rare. In clinical terms, that mix points to neck and back injuries from sudden deceleration, shoulder, wrist and leg injuries among riders, and more involved rehabilitation after the most serious crashes.
| Year | Crashes where someone was hurt | Killed | Seriously injured | All casualties | All recorded crashes (including tow-away crashes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 29 | 0 | 17 | 37 | 45 |
| 2021 | 35 | 2 | 14 | 46 | 49 |
| 2022 | 34 | 2 | 20 | 45 | 48 |
| 2023 | 24 | 1 | 10 | 37 | 40 |
| 2024 | 38 | 3 | 27 | 54 | 46 |
| 2020 to 2024 | 160 | 8 | 88 | 219 | 228 |
Roads and streets with the most crashes where someone was hurt
- 1.New England Highway56 crashes
- 2.Golden Highway29 crashes
- 3.Bunnan Road8 crashes
- 4.Hunter Road6 crashes
- 5.Barrington Tops Forest Road5 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.Scone34 crashes
- 2.Merriwa21 crashes
- 3.Cassilis14 crashes
- 4.Blandford11 crashes
- 5.Wingen8 crashes
Road-user mix. Of the 160 crashes where someone was hurt in 2020 to 2024, 17% 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 68% of the total.
Main roads through the Upper Hunter Shire
- New England Highway
- Golden Highway
- Bunnan Road
- Gundy Road
- Hunter Road
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 Upper Hunter Shire: getting checked and recorded
Make sure everyone is safe and call police if anyone is hurt. If they don't come out, report the crash afterwards so your claim has a police event number. Take the other driver's name and the vehicle's registration. On the road to Ellerston, or anywhere with few landmarks, a note of the nearest turn-off or property name helps fix the location. Then have your injuries assessed and recorded, even if they seem mild, as soft tissue pain can build later. Whoever insures the vehicle that caused the crash generally handles the claim, and our doctors supply the clinical notes requested.
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 Upper Hunter Shire: your first appointment
When most crashes happen at highway speed, the full extent of an injury isn't always clear on the day. An early assessment can pick up problems sooner and creates a record linking them to the crash, which the insurer relies on. At a first consultation one of our doctors examines you, writes the Certificate of Fitness, maps out care and notes what the insurer will need. Because the shire is so spread out, many people start by telehealth, and we arrange an in-person review when an examination or imaging is needed. The crash pattern shapes what we treat: whiplash and back strain from rear-end and run-off crashes, shoulder, wrist and knee injuries in riders, and the anxiety about driving that can follow, which weighs heavily when the highway is your only way to town. If your claim runs into a dispute, we can point you to independent legal help.
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 Upper Hunter 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 Upper Hunter Shire. Each of these groups has its own injury pattern:
Motorcycles
Riders have little protection, so fractures and wrist, knee and ankle injuries are more common. See motorcycle accidents in NSW.
Heavy vehicles
Crashes with trucks involve more force, so injuries tend to be more serious, and the shock can linger. See psychological injury.
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 Upper Hunter 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 Upper Hunter Shire
These are some of the suburbs and towns in the Upper Hunter Shire. We see people from all of them. Where we have a local page, the name is linked.
- Scone
- Aberdeen
- Merriwa
- Murrurundi
- Cassilis
- Wingen
- Parkville
- Middle Brook
- Segenhoe
- Blandford
- Gungal
- Moobi
- Gundy
- Upper Dartbrook
- Rouchel
- Moonan Flat
- Ellerston
- Dartbrook
- Bunnan
- Glenbawn
- Owens Gap
- Belltrees
- Kars Springs
Across the wider area: CTP doctors in Newcastle and the Hunter
Neighbouring council areas: Muswellbrook, Mid-Western Regional, Liverpool Plains, Tamworth Regional, Mid-Coast, Warrumbungle, Singleton, Dungog, Walcha.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. One of our doctors can assess you by video or phone, complete your Certificate of Fitness and set up a treatment plan while you stay at home. Should the doctor want to examine you in person or send you for imaging, we'll tell you and organise the closest option, so the trip out of Merriwa stays as short as possible. Follow-up reviews can often stay on telehealth too, which saves long trips along the Golden Highway while you're healing.
It may. Physio is common after motorcycle crashes, especially for shoulder, wrist, knee and back injuries. The CTP insurer considers whether treatment is reasonable and necessary for your accident injuries and decides what it approves, and those decisions can be reviewed. Fault matters too, because it can change what's covered and for how long. Our doctors document your injuries and set the plan, and our physios carry it out, by telehealth where that suits and in person where it's needed.
It's worth it. Rear-end impacts often cause whiplash, and neck pain can get worse over the following days before it settles. A consultation gets the injury assessed and documented, which matters if you need treatment later on. When a vehicle hits you from behind, its CTP insurer will usually handle the claim, though fault still has to be accepted. A telehealth appointment lets you stay put in Scone instead of getting behind the wheel while your neck is still stiff.
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: Upper Hunter Shire (opens in a new tab)
- ABS 2021 Census QuickStats (opens in a new tab)
- Upper Hunter Shire Council website (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Scone, New South Wales (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Scone railway station (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Aberdeen railway station, New South Wales (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Murrurundi railway station (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: New England Highway (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Golden Highway (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 Upper Hunter Shire
Often seen within the week. Telehealth across NSW, or in person where appropriate. No claim number needed to start.