Elsie Lange
The financial strain on bulk billing general practices coupled with GP shortages is causing appointment wait times in Sunbury to soar.
Gap Road Medical Centre senior GP Dr Emil Baselyous said the situation facing his bulk billing clinic, and therefore his patients, was “very, very bad”.
“Waiting periods for a patient to see a doctor in Sunbury now is over a week, at least,” Dr Baselyous said.
“There is huge, huge pressure on the clinic to see patients.”
He said there weren’t enough incentives to attract doctors to work in public general practice, and said staff were leaving to work in private clinics.
The GP is calling for Sunbury to be classified as a District of Workforce Shortage (DWS), which is an area where people are considered to have poor access to specialist medical practitioners.
“We serve not just Sunbury, we serve other towns around Sunbury. We have people coming from Kilmore, from Kyneton, from Gisborne, from Romsey, from Riddells Creek,” Dr Baselyous said.
“We have people coming from different towns to see us, we have over 50,000 patients and I’m getting less and less doctors because there is no incentive for them to stay with us.”
He said a lack of GPs would “cause a lot of problems in the future”.
“[Patients’] medical condition can get worse, or would be a delayed diagnosis and that can lead to a further impact on the Medicare system,” Dr Baselyous said.
While Dr Baselyous said his clinic would continue to bulk bill, rising costs and Medicare cuts were hitting general practices hard.
“It’s not fair to start charging people out of pocket knowing the situation of the people around us,” he said.
“Saying this, bulk billing clinics are struggling badly.”
Health Minister Mark Butler said primary care was in the “worst shape” since Medicare began.
“Across the country we hear stories of Australians not being able to get in to see a bulk billing doctor or GPs changing from bulk billing to mixed billing,” Mr Butler said.
“The reality is after nine years of cuts and neglect from the former government it’s never been harder or more expensive for Australians to see a GP.”
