Gold Coast GPs 'stressed, overwhelmed' amid massive shortage of staff
The government's handling of the Covid-19 vaccination rollout is costing clinics money amid a crippling shortage of doctors, says a Gold Coast GP.
Gold Coast
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GOLD Coast GPs are burnt out after being at the coalface of the Covid-19 pandemic for 18 months, fighting an invisible enemy while continuing day-to-day consults.
Making matters worse, they say they’re underfunded by the Federal Government for administering the Covid vaccine and there’s a crippling shortage of doctors.
One health professional says it had never been so difficult to recruit GPs on the Gold Coast.
“There are working restrictions for doctors which remain in place and international travel has stopped and this impacts on the number of doctors we can hire or that are available,” said Dr Tanya Unni.
She and her husband operate eight Amtan Medical centres across the Gold Coast: Hope Island, Ormeau, Ormeau Village, Reedy Creek Village, Pimpama Junction, Pimpama City, Oxenford Village and Pacific Pines.
“Staff are extremely overwhelmed. We are doing the vaccination roll out with 1500 patients being vaccinated a week through our clinics and we are hoping to double the number in the next month,” she said.
“The challenge has been doing this with the same number of doctors, with the doctor resources not being increased and the infrastructure has not changed.”
Clinics are also out-of-pocket, with most saying it’s actually costing them money to run vaccination clinics because the government’s $30 per dose barely covers the costs it takes to put all the necessary protocols in place.
Dr Unni said the vaccination rollout on top of still tending to patients’ day-to-day health needs during clinic consultation was “challenging” because resources had not been increased.
“We are hiring double the number of nurses in the clinics but the income generated and outgoing expenses have increased without having any change with the incoming revenue,” she said.
“GP clinics are not making any more of an income with running these vaccination clinics than we were prior to. “We have been increasing staffing requirements and managing everything within the same infrastructure.”
Dr Sonu Haikweral, of Haan Health and the Upper Coomera Respiratory Clinic said the community needed to understand GP clinics, nurses and admin staff were under the pump every single day.
“GPs are underfunded, yes we’re giving vaccines for $30 but we’re also taking hundreds of phone calls a day and spending 30 minutes convincing people to get vaccinated and are not paid for that,” she said.
“The medical fraternity is worn out. Not only are we taking care of patients overall wellbeing, detecting cancers, helping keep patients from succumbing to chronic diseases, we’re trying to vaccinate the population.
“It feels as though we’re running a charity at times, and while it’s not the patients’ fault, people have to realise that right now tradies are getting paid more than we do per hour.
“We get paid less for a consult than a hairdresser charges for a haircut, unless that changes GPs will be gone.
“We are working so hard every day and most of us are just scraping through.”
Dr Unni said health care and admin staff associated with GPs were unable to get time off or travel for holidays or able to see their families or loved ones because there is no one to cover their shifts.
“This has been challenging for Queenslanders who have families in other states, which definitely impacts the mental health and wellbeing of the workforce,” she said.
“Staff are stressed, overwhelmed, mentally drained and are having to extend their daily working hours.”
Broadbeach Family Practice owner and GP Krista Talbot said staff were working extremely hard to get everyone vaccinated because they believed in the cause.
“We’ve also noticed increased patient numbers as quite a large number of people have moved up from NSW and Victoria so we are trying to keep up with their general health care as well as do their vaccines,” she said.
INSIDE STORY: COVID ON THE COAST's FRONTLINE
August 12, 2021
THE silent killer from Covid is how it stresses our frontline workers. Police, doctors, nurses and teachers are most at risk. Labor in State Government must protect its own people.
On the Gold Coast, the squeaky wheel in the economic debate about the virus has been the tourism operators. Nightclub bosses and restaurant owners on the Glitter Strip are vocal.
But suburban businesses, who rely on locals, there is more understanding about lockdowns. They just want them to be hard, fast, provide a simple road map on social distancing.
Senior police face a tough gig. Most disasters, like floods and cyclones, last only weeks where they direct a safe clean-up and recovery. In a few days, the media move onto another story.
But Covid after 12 months sees a daily 10am press conference with the Premier.
A police source told your columnist: “This can take away from having an objective disaster management focus to a politicised voting winning one. Do you think it was coincidence the lockdown was lifted on the day the Premier was released from quarantine.”
The risk is a blurring of the “separation of powers”. Senior police should be managing disaster management, not the political arm. They need to be confident about so-called “exposure sites”.
Rank and file coppers breaking up street parties say they are “being used as political pawns”.
“We’re furious the government is spending $500,000 surveying community opinion before making Covid decisions. Morale is at rock bottom,” the police source added.
Talk to similar sources at the health coalface and their concern is about young Coast GPs, as they face increased workload and what really amounts to “bullying” from some patients.
At hospital emergency departments, staffers are facing burnout. “The staff there are doing triple shifts. People are off sick all the time. We can’t fill a roster,” the source says.
At schools, leaders are having to tell some parents that teachers are “real people with emotions and feelings” and just like them are trying “to process how these changes affect their own children and families”.
But abuse continues on Facebook pages and sometimes at drop-off as some helicopter mum and dads want to leave their cars to either collect or leave their kids.
The worst of it is when some parents, obviously hyped by the Covid conspiracy theories about vaccines, accuse teachers of being government lackeys by closing the front gate.
“Regardless of their personal views, they are bound to comply with government directives while carrying out their roles,” a school leader wrote to parents.
“They receive information moments before families do and have to pivot accordingly. They have to demonstrate flexibility and resilience far beyond what they ever thought would be required of them in choosing their profession.”
At a GP’s clinic, an old fella hobbles in without a mask. A receptionist offers him one and politely asks him to put it on.
“Do you feel unwell,” she asks. He snaps back. “Of course I do, I want a doctor,” he says. She asks him: “Any signs of cough or fever.”
His hearing is poor and he seems unsure. All of us seated there move a few seats back, check our masks, fearing the worst.
“What are your symptoms,” she continues, her tone remaining sympathetic.
“My bloody back — it’s sore, I need to see a doctor,” he replies.
Dealing with people face-to-face daily, it can be exhausting. Then along comes Covid.
More than ever, we need to care about the people who care for us.
Originally published as Gold Coast GPs 'stressed, overwhelmed' amid massive shortage of staff
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