Mount Gambier GP scarcity resulting in aggressive behaviour at clinics

There at the moment are no GP clinics accepting new sufferers in South Australia’s second-largest metropolis, resulting in individuals abusing clinic workers and turning to social media for recommendation.

Three medical doctors’ surgical procedures in Mount Gambier — Village Medical Centre, Hawkins Medical Clinic, and Limestone Coast Health Hub — have introduced they’ve closed their books to new sufferers because the Medicare pressing care clinic within the metropolis closed in June.

Ferrers Medical Clinic stopped accepting new sufferers final 12 months. 

Open Door Health, which solely had one physician, closed abruptly 4 weeks in the past after Dr Mathew Oommen skilled a household emergency abroad.

Mount Gambier mother-of-six Kylie Thompson has resorted to driving to Penola — about 50 kilometres away — to see a physician, after she was unable to discover a native GP to examine her breast lumps.

She stated it was a “pretty stressful and scary” scenario to be unable to seek out a physician after Dr Oommen’s departure.

“My main concern is I’m about to be a grandmother and I don’t know if my grandchild’s going to be able to see a doctor if need be.”

Anger directed at workers

Village Medical Centre observe supervisor Jess Bilal posted on Facebook final week, saying a rise in abuse and aggression, particularly in the direction of the surgical procedure’s reception workers, wouldn’t be tolerated.

She informed ABC South East SA that, on someday alone, 15 individuals turned abusive on the entrance desk.

“They asked if we were accepting new patients,” she stated.

“They had been sadly informed that we’re not, and so they had been clearly fairly upset about that. 

About 27,000 individuals reside in Mount Gambier, plus many extra within the surrounding district, and the inhabitants is rising, particularly among the many aged.

Patients were seen lining up out the door at the Mount Gambier Hospital emergency department last week.

Ms Bilal said the GP shortage could definitely be classed as a “disaster”.

“We’ve felt it coming for fairly a while,” she stated. 

“It’s been just a little little bit of a sluggish burn, however now we have arrived at that time.

Patients turning to social media

Fertility educator Lucy Lines stated the physician scarcity in Mount Gambier was resulting in individuals looking out on-line or travelling to Victoria to hunt medical recommendation.

Ms Lines, who not too long ago unsuccessfully ran for Liberal Party preselection, stated she knew of some girls heading to Warrnambool to present delivery, whereas others turned to social media for assist once they couldn’t see a GP or specialist.

“People are preferentially asking ChatGPT for fertility advice, or they’re getting their medical advice and their fertility advice from TikTok influencers and Instagram reels, and then taking those to their doctor and saying, ‘Oh, I saw this TikTok that said this and I need this prescription,'” she stated.

Blame deflected

Premier Peter Malinauskas stated major well being care was a federal duty, however that the GP scarcity did have a flow-on impact for state-run hospitals.

“I am concerned that if people can’t get access to a GP, then they get sicker, and guess where they end up then? In hospital,” he stated earlier than declaring his authorities was upgrading the Mount Gambier and Naracoorte hospitals.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners South Australian chair Sian Goodson stated the state authorities may supply monetary incentives to draw GPs to regional areas, significantly these from the UK, Ireland and New Zealand, on an expedited pathway.

“We’ve called on the state government to offer those doctors an incentive of $40,000, which would cover flights, relocation costs and some of the costs associated with moving, which are enormous,” Dr Goodson stated.

“I think if we could do something like that here in South Australia, we would see an improvement.”

The Country SA Primary Health Network stated it was “identifying a suitable provider to deliver the Mount Gambier Medicare urgent care clinic to support the people of Mount Gambier and surrounds”.

In the meantime, the Village Medical Centre and different GP clinics in Mount Gambier are directing individuals to telehealth companies, though they can’t prescribe some medicines.

“Unfortunately, a large portion of the demographic can’t access that for whatever reason,” Ms Bilal stated.

“You have to have a smartphone, you have to be comfortable using a smartphone — a lot of people are not comfortable using that sort of technology, especially for health.”