The NSW government has refused to respond to questions regarding the state's withdrawal of funds from GP Access After Hours, pointing to comments made by Hunter New England Health chief Michael DiRienzo last week which said funding the service was primarily a Commonwealth responsibility.

But the Department of Health has told the Newcastle Herald that any questions about the reduction in funding for the service must instead be directed to the NSW government.

GP Access After Hours, run by Hunter Primary Care, is set to close its Calvary Mater clinic on Christmas Eve and reduce its hours of operation by January 1 due to current funding not meeting operational costs. The changes will mean the GP Access clinics at Toronto and Belmont will have their hours halved on weekends, leaving patients to either use an alternative after hours service, or present to their nearest emergency department.

Federal member for Newcastle, Sharon Claydon, has collected more than 8200 signatures for a petition calling on the Commonwealth to properly fund the "vital" service that stops unnecessary emergency department presentations.

Ms Claydon said it was "very clear" the Morrison government was responsible for the funding of primary care services, while the state delivered acute and tertiary health services.

"I've seen correspondence from the Minister to the service that said they should take it up with NSW Health Minister, Brad Hazzard, about the more recent decline in funding," she said.

"I don't argue that there has been that decline over the past few years in the contribution from Hunter New England Local Health District. That is a fact, and not to be disputed. But nor can you dispute the fact the Commonwealth has frozen Medicare rebates for six years, and withdrawn the bulk billing incentive payment for Newcastle. We were one of 14 areas nationally that got targeted by the government to remove the bulk billing incentive payments. They are clearly Commonwealth responsibilities. You can't shove that off to the state."

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Ms Claydon said there was "undoubtedly" a convenience factor for the after hours service. But she was also sure the lack of access to affordable, bulk billing GP services was driving people to the after hours service, which is bulk billed.

"We're also talking about a contribution of about half a million dollars from the state," she said. "Even if you reinstated it, that is not the bulk of the funding for this service - it is a very small part of the overall budget. But it is now tipping the service over the edge as far as the number of clinics they can run, and the hours. Ultimately, the state will pay a price for that - at the other end when someone has not received quality primary health care that could have stopped smaller problems from evolving into bigger ones. They will wear the cost of that."

A Department of Health spokesperson told the Herald that Hunter Primary Care has been funded for "many years" through the federal government's Primary Health Network (PHN) After Hours Program.

"The PHN has contributed over $4.3 million a year since 2017 plus a one-off top up amount in the last financial year taking the 2020-21 investment to $5.9 million," he said. "This funding was added in recognition that the NSW government had reduced funding in the order of $450,000. Questions around the reduction in funding should be directed to the NSW government."

Hunter New England Health, on behalf of the state, had supported GP Access After Hours with $559,000 per annum from 2010 until 2020.

In the 2021 financial year, the state's contribution to the service dropped to $105,200, with financial support to be withdrawn in 2022.

But Mr DiRienzo said the health district had helped GP Access After Hours with "not insignificant" in kind support such via the use of facilities and services - a sentiment echoed by Hunter Primary Care.

"With funding being limited, we have to prioritise where we spend our very important clinical finding," he said last week. "The decision of the district is to put our focus on our emergency department, and getting it able to meet the growth that is coming. I'm just hoping that the PHN and Hunter Primary Care - who are running the GP Access program, will get together and talk about how they can maintain it."

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