The GP Access After Hours Service at the Calvary Mater Hospital will permanently close its doors today following significant cuts to government funding.
Along with the closure, opening hours will also reduce at similar clinics, including John Hunter Hospital, Maitland Hospital, Belmont Hospital, and Toronto’s Westlakes Community Health Centre.
Hunter Primary Care was forced to make the decision after six years of Medicare rebate freezes and recent cuts to bulk-billing incentives by the Federal Government.
More than 11,500 constituents signed a petition to save the service, initiated by Federal Member for Newcastle Sharon Claydon.
Claydon tabled the petition in Parliament last month and moved a motion seeking to save the service in the Parliament’s Federation Chamber.
She also held a virtual rally on December 22 to save the clinic, featuring Senior Lecturer at University of Newcastle’s School of Medicine Dr Annette Carruthers, Senior Nursing and Health Service Manager Mark Kearin, healthcare worker Phillipe Millard and State Member for Wallsend Sonia Hornery.
“The Morrison Government has delivered the worst Christmas present imaginable to the Newcastle and Hunter region by failing to take responsibility and fund our GP Access After Hours Service before its closure on Christmas Eve,” Claydon said.
“GP Access has played a vital role in relieving pressure on our local hospital emergency departments for more than twenty years, treating more than a million patients since its inception.”
State Member for Wallsend Sonia Hornery joined Claydon outside of the Calvary Mater Hospital on December 23 as a final bid to save the service.
“Our Emergency Departments are already being stretched to breaking point. But, for the tiny investment of $600,000 per year, the savings to the NSW Health system is more than $20 million,” Hornery said.
“The maths is simple. If the service closes, people will flood our Emergency Departments, and the cost will eat into the NSW Health Budget.
“The Health Minister needs to review this decision and work with his Federal colleagues to keep this vital service open before it is lost forever.”
Hornery also moved a motion last month in the Parliament of NSW about the importance of GP access to the community.
Claydon said the decision was “devastating news” for the many residents who accessed the vital service.
She said hundreds of people from the community had reached out, sharing their disbelief and frustration over the funding cuts.
“This has been an essential service for tens of thousands of Newcastle families who rely upon bulk-billing GP services to access the healthcare they need when they need it,” she said.
“The GP Access funding shortfall is a drop in the ocean for the Commonwealth’s budget, but the ripple effect is enormous – hurting tens of thousands of families who currently use the service.
“The people of the Hunter won’t stop fighting to save this essential primary healthcare service.”
The petition is still open and can be signed here.
Hayley McMahon
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