The Central Highlands community still begging for a doctor, following its upset closure last year
A year after the closure of a regional health clinic which left hundreds of patients helpless, the Central Highlands community is still begging for a permanent doctor. DETAILS >
Tasmania
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A year after the closure of a regional health clinic which left hundreds of patients helpless, the Central Highlands community is still begging for a permanent doctor.
Hamilton resident Yvonne Miller said it was unacceptable that she couldn’t get treatment for searing pain on a chemical burn.
She said because she was unable to get medical attention in the Central Highlands she had to travel to Claremont.
“I called an ambulance and couldn’t get one, so they sent a taxi up. By the time he got up my husband took me down,” Mrs Miller said.
While Bothwell Medical Practice reserves appointments for patients with urgent needs, they weren’t open on a Monday when Mrs Miller needed them.
She said staff used to be at the Central Highlands centre all the time, but now some days there’s only the receptionist.
Mrs Miller is worried about the elderly who can’t drive and aren’t getting their dressings regularly changed.
“People are going without up here and that concerns me immensely.”
Mrs Miller wrote to Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Labor leader Rebecca White.
Last September Mr Rockliff announced the expansion of Bothwell’s opening days from two to four, taking on patients from the Central Highlands.
A government spokesman said GPs were the responsibility of the federal government and the Tasmanian government could not dictate where GPs operated.
A Department of Health spokesman said the Bothwell Medical Centre had enough capacity for the Central Highlands community, but was looking at the possibility of a GP service in Ouse.
He said the Central Highlands centre was not an emergency health service and that an ambulance co-ordinated call-outs based on needs and that if an Ouse-based paramedic was unavailable, resources from a surrounding area would be allocated.
Tasmanian chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Dr Tim Jackson said there was a desperate need for remote and regional doctors.
“We know if junior doctors go out into the country they’re more likely to stay out in rural and remote,” he said.
He said the rural and regional practices were struggling because the Medicare rebate hasn’t kept up with the cost of providing service.
“Any GP that knocked on any practice around the state would be offered a job.”
Dr Jackson said a short-term solution would be to fast-track overseas doctors.
He said the college had asked the federal government to streamline applications to get overseas doctors into the system within 6-12 months rather than one to two years.
Dr Jackson said in the long term, councils would need to look at how they can support GP practices.
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