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ABC News
21-07-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Low Medicare subsidies and staffing issues blamed for Northampton GP clinic's closure
Residents and businesses in Northampton in Western Australia's Midwest are shocked and in limbo over the announcement its only GP clinic will close. GP Tara Hamilton, who runs Northampton Doctors Surgery, shared the news on social media on Friday, announcing the practice would shut its doors at the end of July. She said minimal Medicare rebates and a lack of staff had made business "impossible to sustain". "Despite ongoing efforts for the past four years, I have been unable to recruit a doctor — locally, nationally or internationally — to continue serving our wonderful town," Dr Hamilton said. At the last federal election, the Albanese government pledged to make nine out of 10 GP visits free by the end of the decade. But the Royal Australian College of General Practicioners said increased Medicare rebates due to begin in November were unlikely to keep struggling rural clinics afloat. Kandi Thorpe's parents, who are in their 70s, retired to Northampton and bought a house within walking distance of the surgery. Ms Thorpe said the announcement came without any warning for the town's 1,000 residents. "People like my parents, that made a plan so that they could stay in their hometown." Once the clinic is shut, the closest town with doctors is 50 kilometres away in Geraldton. Ms Thorpe's mother cannot drive and her father is due to undergo knee surgery in the coming weeks. "So they're now looking at how do they get to Geraldton regularly to see a GP for all of their medical needs," she said. "There is no regular affordable public transport from Northampton to Geraldton." Northampton resident of 25 years Bec Reynolds said the shock closure was "sad for the whole community". Ms Reynolds said if people had to travel to other towns for medical services, other local businesses would also lose customers. "Obviously for the pharmacy [in Northampton], I think this will have a big effect," she said. "If we're down in Geraldton then I'll just drop in and grab a script while I'm down there because it makes sense." But Ms Reynolds said not everyone had the ability to travel. "There's quite a large aging population here so they use it for things like blood tests and I know not all of them can drive to Geraldton," she said. Royal Australian College of General Practitioners regional chair Michael Clements said the federal government's current level of Medicare investment was forcing GPs to close their doors. "We've had many years of frozen rebates and even though the government has started investing in Medicare again, the current rebates are too small to be able to run a viable practice," he said. "There are some rebate changes coming in on November 1, but even those are probably not enough for many rural practices to remain open. Dr Clements said Northampton Doctors Surgery's closure was symptomatic of an Australia-wide issue with how services were funded. "For the federal government, the levers are quite few and there aren't many ways of actually targeting small towns," he said. "And there aren't many ways of tailoring the Medicare system to towns like Northampton. "So we have state government and local governments needing to step in to make the service viable." In a written statement, state Health Minister Meredith Hammat said the WA government "continued to advocate" to the federal government for "more support for GPs, particularly those in regional and rural Western Australia". Northampton Shire president Liz Sudlow described the surgery's closure as "very, very disappointing". She said the shire provided a low-lease surgery and house for a doctor to support the service. In 2023, the shire responded to fears the surgery may close by implementing $600 travel subsidies for doctors. A spokesperson for the federal Department of Health said there were a range of "targeted programs to provide incentives for doctors" to move to or remain in regional areas. Panaceum Group operates a number of medical practices in Geraldton, which has a population of about 40,000. Director Ian Taylor said services in Geraldton were also stretched. "It's very difficult for practices in Geraldton, for example, to take up the slack [from Northhampton]," he said. "We are relatively under-doctored ourselves at times and it can be quite busy." He echoed that attracting doctors to the regions was a challenge. Although policy and funding for medical care are primarily a federal government responsibility, Dr Taylor said there needed to be a more holistic approach to funding.
The Guardian
11-07-2025
- The Guardian
Victoria to consider increasing testing of elderly drivers after out-of-control car kills woman and leaves two in hospital
The Victorian government is considering increasing testing for elderly drivers after a 91-year-old woman lost control of her car near a playground and struck three pedestrians, killing one. The acting premier, Ben Carroll, said his thoughts were with the family of the 59-year-old woman who died on Thursday afternoon on Coleman Road in Wantirna South in Melbourne's east. A toddler is also in a stable condition in hospital while a man is fighting for life. Victoria police have not yet revealed the connection between the three victims, but they are believed to be related. 'My heart, as every Victorian's, just breaks for this family and what they're going through and our thoughts are with them,' Carroll told reporters on Friday. When asked whether elderly Victorians should be required to prove their fitness to drive, Carroll acknowledged it was a valid concern. 'In relation to people that are elderly and driving, I think it is a valid question that you raise around testing. I will work with the road safety minister on this,' he said. 'There are a range of initiatives in place through our general practitioners right around Victoria when it comes to making sure that Victorians continue to get tested for their driver's license. But I think this, no doubt this tragedy has brought it into focus.' In 2024, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners called for Victoria to introduce age-based regulations for drivers in line with other jurisdictions including New South Wales, Queensland, ACT, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, which require drivers over 75 to have a health check. The age is 80 in Western Australia, while older drivers in South Australia must complete self-assessments. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email At the time, the Victorian government rejected the call, arguing drivers aged 75 already had to renew their licence every three years, which could include various tests. Police on Friday morning were yet to interview the 91-year-old driver, who was treated in hospital for minor injuries. They said she lost control of her Toyota Yaris about 12.20pm on Thursday, mounted a footpath, went through a fence and hit a bench. Supt Justin Goldsmith said the adults and child were walking in the same direction as the car was travelling when it struck them. 'It came from behind,' Goldsmith told reporters. 'It looks like it's [lost control] about 40 metres or 50 metres before the collision with the people who were walking on the other side of that road.' The out-of-control car continued down the road for another 200 metres, hitting a street sign and smashing through a fence before coming to a stop near a playground. 'No one was hit at the park, thankfully,' Goldsmith said. The driver, who was 'terribly shaken', had minor scratches and was taken to hospital for assessment and blood testing. Police will look at whether speed was a contributing factor. 'That will be subject to the investigation, but it is downhill section of road, so if there has been a lack of control to some degree there is a possibility the car would have picked up speed as it's driven further down Coleman Road,' Goldsmith said. The crash happened during the first week of Victorian school holidays, bringing the state's road deaths to 14 in the past seven days. 'We're facing a horrific month for road trauma,' Goldsmith said. The state has seen a number of deadly crashes involving out-of-control vehicles in recent years. In November, a teacher's aide was killed and a three-year-old boy injured when a runaway truck smashed through the gate of a kindergarten in the regional town of Riddells Creek, about 57km north-west of Melbourne. Two weeks earlier, an 11-year-old boy was killed and four other students injured when an SUV crashed through a fence at Auburn South Primary School in Melbourne's east. Five people were killed and six injured in November 2023 when a diabetic driver passed out behind the wheel and crashed into patrons seated outside the Royal Daylesford Hotel. The driver was charged but the allegations were ultimately struck out after a magistrate found there was not enough evidence to support a conviction.
ABC News
07-07-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Australia battling through severe flu season
Australia's flu season has started hard and fast with a significant surge in influenza cases and hospitalisations. Flu deaths have also risen by almost 40 per cent in the first three months of 2025 compared to the same period last year. The increasing flu numbers come alongside a growing caseload of patients with Respiratory syncytial virus — or RSV. Guest: Dr Michael Wright, President of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Dr Michael Wright, President of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Producer: Grace Stranger Statement from a Department of Health spokesperson: 'Since launching on 1 April, the RSV mother and infant protection program has helped to protect thousands of newborn babies from RSV in Victoria.''The best protection against severe illness from RSV is through maternal vaccination during pregnancy. However, for babies whose mothers didn't receive the vaccine in time or for infants and young children at higher risk, a new monoclonal antibody nirsevimab has been made available. 'There is no shortage of nirsevimab in Victoria. Providers have been advised to order only what they need for scheduled appointments to ensure fair and efficient distribution. Order limits have been relaxed as the respiratory illness season has progressed.'The Victorian Department of Health has proactively sought to support immunisation providers with additional information and guidance, including direct engagement with GP clinic staff. Victorians can visit the Better Health Channel website for eligibility and access information on the RSV mother and infant protection program.'
ABC News
19-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
‘Script hounds' leading to cannabis over-subscription
Medicinal Cannabis has been a booming market in both Australia and around the world. Its legalisation has paved the way for many to access the drug legally, often to treat conditions like chronic pain and anxiety. But New data from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency -- also known as AHPRA -- has revealed eight medical practitioners appeared to have issued more than 10 thousand cannabis scripts each for the highest-THC-strength products over a six-month period. The regulator is now raising concerns some practitioners are putting "profit over safety". Speaking with ABC NewsRadio's Rachel Hayter, Associate Professor Michael Clements from the Royal Australian College of GPs says profit-seeking is to blame.
ABC News
16-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Why childhood vaccination is dropping and what we can do about it
An alarming decline in childhood vaccination rates is a "wake-up call" for all levels of Australian government and the health sector, according to the peak body for doctors. President of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), Dr Danielle McMullen, said new figures released this week show we urgently "need to do more" to address the issue. "Perhaps as a country we've become complacent in trusting our really excellent vaccination rates," Dr McMullen said. Tasmanian GP Tim Jones said he was talking to hesitant patients about vaccination every day. "I'm having four to five conversations a day with families about vaccinations particularly as it applies to their children." He said some were skeptical about both the safety of vaccinations and whether the diseases they protect against are, in fact, dangerous, while others felt apathetic and burnt out in the wake of the pandemic. "They're fearful, they're worried about harm, they don't want to hurt the people they love." Dr Jones has been a GP for almost ten years and said vaccine hesitancy was much higher now than it was when he first started working as a doctor. Dr Jones is also the chair of child and young person's health at the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. He said it's really important to listen to people's fear and hesitancy about vaccines, so they feel safe. "As a GP working in 2025, I did not think I would be seeing kids in the developed world die of measles and yet this is the situation we're now facing" Dr Jones said fear and hesitancy were the main issues he's seeing in Hobart, but there are also significant economic and cultural barriers with some people struggling to access affordable, convenient care. New data from the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS) shows a widespread decline in childhood vaccinations for a range of diseases over the past five years. The proportion of children who are up-to-date with their immunisations by the age of 12 months fell from 94.8 per cent in 2020 to 91.6 per cent last year. The percentage of those fully vaccinated by age two was down from 92.1 per cent to 89.4 per cent in the same time frame. For highly contagious diseases like measles, approximately 95 per cent vaccination coverage is needed to maintain herd immunity. Source: Department of Health Dr McMullen from the AMA said a review of Australia's public health vaccination campaigns was needed to "refocus" the messaging and target misinformation. "Most people are getting the message that vaccinations are a really critical part of our health system. "Just blasting them with more and more information may not change the dial. "What we've really got to do is be targeted and work out for people who aren't being vaccinated, what are the barriers they're facing and how do we address those?" There are practical and ideological reasons why some parents aren't vaccinating their children, either fully or partially. In practical terms, cost and access to care can be barriers. Although childhood immunisations are free, sometimes GPs will charge for the appointment, especially in regional or remote areas. And even if the appointment is free, there may be the cost of taking time off work or transport to the doctor. Even getting an appointment can be a battle too. "Childhood vaccinations are due every few weeks so sometimes a GP is really busy and you can't get an appointment every six weeks when it's due," said Jessica Kaufman, a lead researcher on the Vaccine Uptake Group at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute. "Then before you know it you've fallen behind." The other reasons for reluctance are linked to emotions and social influence. Dr Kaufman is part of the National Vaccination Insights Project which surveyed 2,000 parents about childhood vaccination last year. About 50 per cent of parents with unvaccinated children said they didn't believe vaccines were safe and around 40 per cent didn't think vaccines were effective at preventing disease. But the most common barrier for all surveyed parents (including those who did vaccinate their children) was "feeling distressed when thinking about vaccinating their child". "A lot of parents worry about seeing their kids in pain, or worry they are making the right decision or may just have a needle phobia themselves," Dr Kaufman said. This data was collected last April so Dr Kaufman said it does not reflect the rise in vaccine misinformation that we've seen since the Trump administration was re-elected in the US. US Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy is a well-known vaccine skeptic who has revived the debunked claim that vaccines cause autism and promoted treatments for measles that have no grounding in scientific evidence, such as vitamin A. "What's happening in the US means things that used to be fringe beliefs are becoming mainstream and anecdotally I'm hearing from nurses that people are coming into clinic with questions about things like vitamin A supplementation," Dr Kaufman said. Dr Kaufman said employing more practice nurses who can give vaccines at GP clinics, establishing walk-in vaccine clinics and allowing pharmacists to give childhood immunisations could all help reverse the trend. Creating a positive and supportive environment at the clinics where the vaccinations are administered is also crucial to ease distress. "Distraction techniques can help or allowing the mother to breastfeed while the baby gets vaccinated," Dr Kaufman said. "Another idea would be to have a Medicare item that incentivises vaccination conversations so there's time to have good conversations that can be bulk billed." Julie Leask is a social scientist who is involved in the National Vaccination Insights Project, specifically looking at influenza vaccination uptake. She said the simple act of sending reminders needed to be revitalised. "Reminders work but they are quite ad hoc right now and it's up to the GP practice. I'm not aware of any jurisdictions using reminders systematically." Getting through to parents who don't believe vaccines are safe or effective is a lot more challenging but fear campaigns are not effective, Dr Kaufman said. "Research has shown this can overwhelm people as they might already be scared of the vaccine and potential side effects and then they are shown scary images of people with the disease … this can put them into a kind of analysis paralysis so they do nothing." She said the most effective way to get through to people with doubts is through community outreach, which was used a lot at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. This involves people who are already trusted by a community getting trained in how to have conversations about vaccination within their cultural, religious, political or social network. "This is a lot more useful than something like the 'arm yourself' campaign we saw during COVID." Health Minister Mark Butler said the decline in childhood vaccination was "alarming" and the government was currently finalising its National Immunisation Strategy for 2025 to 2030 which will outline how to improve uptake.
