‘Covid has turned cracks in chasms’: FNQ’s GP shortage

A Cairns Post investigation reveals just how serious GP delays have become from Cairns to Edmonton. SEE THE WAIT TIMES

Yashee Sharma

3 min read

January 21, 2022 - 6:00AM

The Cairns Post

Cairns

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A MEDICAL centre audit has uncovered the true distressing depths of a critical doctor shortage that is crippling the Far North health industry and leaving patients hanging high and dry.

A perfect storm of surgery closures, Covid-19 and staff shortages has created a desperate situation across the region for both patients and professionals alike.

Almost anyone who has needed a prompt medical appointment in recent months can attest to the severity of the situation – and now the numbers are in. The Cairns Post contacted 20 medical clinics from Cairns to Edmonton to gauge just how serious GP delays had become.

>> SCROLL TO SEE THE WAIT TIME LIST

The daily pressures of dealing with Covid-19 is taking its toll on the health workers of the Cairns 24 hour Medical Centre. Doctor Mona Mohamad consults with centre supervisor Lillian Macgregor in her patient room. Both have seen an increase in workloads in the past few months. Picture: Brendan Radke

Once open and welcoming centres now falter under Covid pressures as patients have to wait up to two weeks for appointment availability as one medical centre has shut their books to new patients for the rest of the year.

The average wait time for an appointment is 4.75 days, excluding the four practices who have closed bookings from any new patients.

Gardens Medical had the longest wait time with 20 days before an available appointment, followed by Southcare Medical and Edmonton Family Medical Centre with 13 days.

One in four doctors have said they’re experiencing staff shortages which are causing these delays in appointments.

Owner and director of the Cairns 24 Hour Medical Centre, Dr Evan Nicholls, said “the effects of Covid are large.”

He said that they may have to reduce closing hours from 11pm to 9am in the future if demand continues. Opening hours on public holidays and weekends may also be affected. Local health issues are further exacerbated by the mounting delays in elective surgery as the State Government announced earlier this month that non-urgent elective surgeries have been pushed back until March.

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This has created a knock-on effect leaving the Far North in a haunting situation.

Three medical centres the Cairns Post spoke to said that the lack of staff isn’t a new issue.

“The government is well aware,” Dr Nicholls said.

The dire situation has sparked calls for Queensland to increase its intake of foreign doctors to target shortages in regional parts of the state.

Elida Faith, Labor Candidate for Leichhardt, said “Covid has turned cracks in chasms.”

She has heard the cries of patients and doctors alike who are struggling to manage.

“There is a massive shortage nationally, but FNQ feels these things much harder.”

Ms Faith has written a letter to the federal government pleading for Cairns to be registered as a Distribution Priority Area (DPA). This would allow Cairns to have a wider pool of doctors, both national and international, to recruit from.

Ms Faith said JCU’s medical program is one of the best but the issue runs deeper with regional areas are losing their graduates for metro areas.

“We want to train local, and stay local,” Candidate Faith said.

Annette Gray, practice manager at Cairns Family Medical Centre, said general practice is not a popular field to begin with.

“General practice is so busy, it’s not everyone’s ideal job,” she said.

Ms Gray said the past 12-18 months has seen demand for services skyrocket as practices buckle under the pressure from patients.

Cairns 24 hour Medical Centre assistant manager Celia Zarins, team leader Jyoti Loomba, receptionist Stacie Boccalatte and doctors Lana Anderson and Romies Usman have all been taking on extra hours to deal with the increased workload at the clinic. Picture: Brendan Radke

WAIT TIMES ACROSS REGION

Abbott Medical Clinic: 8 days

Appletree Medical Centre: 12 days

Barrier Reef Medical Centre: closed to new patients for 2022

Cairns Central Medical Centre: closed to new patients

Cairns GP Bulk Billing Medical Centre: 4 days

Cairns Family Medical Centre: 1 day

Cairns Doctors on Barr St: 1 day

Cairns West Medical Centre: 1 day

Cairns 24 Hour Medical Centre: 2 days

CTL Medical: 2 days

Edmonton Family Medical Centre: 13 days