The call intensifies for a reversal of the Federal Government’s decision to axe GP Access services at the Mater Hospital on Christmas Eve and reduce hours at the Hunter’s other after-hours clinics.
More than 11,000 constituents have now signed a petition initiated by Federal Member for Newcastle Sharon Claydon.
Claydon tabled the petition in Parliament last week and yesterday, in the Parliament’s Federation Chamber, moved a motion seeking to save the service.
“We’ve had eight long years of savage cuts to Medicare under Liberal governments, including Medicare rebate freezes; the reclassification of most of the Hunter region from being a ‘district of workforce shortage’ to being a so-called metropolitan area with no GP shortages at all; brutal cuts to bulk-billing incentive payments, which have cost our region some $7 million in lost revenue and the forced closure of many GPs’ surgery doors,” Claydon told the Parliament.
“And earlier this year we saw almost 1000 changes to the Medicare Benefits Schedule, resulting in even higher out-of-pockets costs for patients.
“And now the Calvary Mater Hospital after-hours clinic is next on the Morrison Government’s chopping block.”
The motion was seconded by Pat Conroy (Shortland), and fellow Labor MPs Meryl Swanson (Paterson) and Emma McBride (Dobell) spoke of their concerns.
“Cuts to this valuable and pioneering 20-year-old health service will be devastating for the people of the Hunter, who have come to rely on it so very much,” Swanson said.
“These cuts will put more pressure on our overstretched and underfunded emergency departments, and will cost the taxpayer much more in the long run.
“It just makes no sense.
“But, most importantly, these cuts mean that an important safety net will be taken away from Hunter families – families who can’t get into a GP because, quite frankly, there just aren’t enough of them and families who cannot afford to see a GP who bulk bills because there aren’t enough of those either.”
The immediate threat of the Mater GP Access clinic closure and the reduced hours elsewhere in the Hunter is not all that is worrying Claydon, health professionals and constituents alike.
“The Minister for Health [Greg Hunt] has a review sitting on his desk, which, if implemented, would totally gut our GP Access After Hours Service – effectively wiping out any hope retaining an after-hours service as we know it,” Claydon warned.
“Abandoning this much-loved local service would have a profoundly negative impact for our community and will place enormous pressure on our public hospital emergency departments.
“It’s clear that the Morrison Government has absolutely no clue what it’s like for sick Novocastrians trying to access affordable healthcare, and it’s clear that they have no plan for the 15,000 people who will be impacted by these cuts.”
A spokesperson for Claydon said the figure of 15,000 was based on a Hunter Primary Care report that estimated 70,000 people accessed the nurse triage call centre annually and 50,000 people attended GP Access clinics at the Mater, John Hunter Hospital, Belmont Hospital, Maitland Hospital and the Toronto Polyclinic combined.
Claydon is planning a rally in the coming weeks to further draw attention to the Hunter’s plight.
In the meantime, her spokesperson urged those who had not yet signed the online petition to do so, and to write to the Health Minister.
“We need to make as much noise as possible,” she said.
Gina Cranson