Richmond’s Bridge Street Surgery to close in February after government ‘neglect’

Another regional medical clinic bites the dust, announcing it will close next month as doctors bemoan the state of the nation’s health system.

Doctor Robyn Mathews GP and owner of Bridge Street Surgery in Richmond. The practice will close at the end of February leaving Richmond with no doctors. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Another regional Tasmanian general practice is set to close with doctors pointing fingers at both the state and federal governments.

Richmond’s Bridge Street Surgery will close permanently at the end of February after six years in business, with their three GPs to continue treating patients at clinics across Bellerive and the Hobart CBD.

Founder Robyn Mathews said after years of struggling to secure long-term staff and rising operational costs, the state government’s failure to provide financial support was “the final straw to break the camel’s back”.

Dr Mathews claimed the clinic had applied for state funding to employ a nurse and to upgrade their IT system last year but was knocked back.

With demand for healthcare growing and Medicare funding increasing only “modestly”, Dr Mathew said staff were “burning out”.

“I was left with no option,” she said.

Doctor Robyn Mathews GP and owner of Bridge Street Surgery in Richmond. The practice will close at the end of February leaving Richmond with no doctors. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

The announcement follows closures of GP clinics in Snug, Derwent Park, Risdon Vale and Bellerive last year.

Australian Medical Association Tasmania branch spokesman John Saul blamed the closure on “chronic neglect” from successive federal governments.

He said state governments did not have the capacity or responsibility to “plug the gaps” where the federal government had failed, adding the saga showed systemic problems in the healthcare system.

“Medicare was put up forty years ago as a saviour for everyone but because of the underfunding we’ve seen the end result,” Dr Saul said.

“It’s terribly sad.

“It’s not just general practices struggling, its hospitals, allied health, and it means less chronic disease management and more hospital admissions.”

Labor member for Lyons Rebecca White took aim at the state government, saying they could have done “far more” to keep the clinic open.

“The state budget showed the Liberals planned to cut $290 million from health this financial year, and that’s always going to have flow on effects for Tasmanians,” she said.

Bulk billing rates slide with Tasmanians bearing the brunt

The comments came after a landmark report prompted state health minister Jacquie Petrusma to declare bulk billing in Tasmania to be “dead”.

Released on Monday, the Cleanbill Blue Report surveyed nearly 7000 clinics across the country to find that there had been a 3.5 per cent drop in the number offering bulk billing to new adult patients without concessions.

Minister Jacquie Petrusma. New Tasmanian government cabinet swearing in at government house in Hobart. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

In Tasmania, the report found there were no clinics offering bulk billing to new adult patients without concessions, meanwhile patients were paying the highest out of pocket costs nationwide for standard consultations – $54.26.

This was a $3.07 increase from 2024, the report found.

Ms Petrusma blamed the federal government for its “ongoing neglect of primary health”.

“[It] has forced us to step in and save practices from closure time and time again, but the reality is, we shouldn’t have to,” Ms Petrusma said.

Doctor Toby Gardner chair of Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Tasmania. Tasmanian GP's visited the Tasmanian Parliament to call on politicians to fund the stateÕs health workforce. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

On the Bridge Street Surgery closure, Ms Petrusma said its closure was a “direct result” of the federal government and called for an increase to Medicare rebates.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioner Tasmanian chair Toby Gardner called the episode another sad reminder of the “erosion” of Medicare.

“We were never going to get to the position where we had universal bulk billing unless rebates dramatically increase,” Dr Gardner said, vowing to “keep fighting on a federal level”.