Dennis Jensen (Tangney, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Just two weeks ago, a major doctors surgery in my electorate abruptly closed its doors after giving its 4½ thousand patients only a few days notice. Only a short distance away is another major clinic which closed last year, again leaving thousands of patients without access to their GPs. In both cases, the closures were ordered by their corporate owners—major enterprises which have bought up local surgeries across Australia. These closures have caused immeasurable distress, particularly to older constituents who are not able to travel to more distant clinics, which are increasingly turning away new patients anyway because they are so overloaded.

The most recent to close its doors was the Murdoch Centre, which has been providing for the local community for some 40 years, including a major retirement complex for RAF veterans and their widows. The corporate operator has told patients to travel to another clinic in a different suburb or, alternatively, pay $22 for copies of their own medical records so that they can go to another GP—pay for their own records. The previous clinic to close was the Farrington Medical Centre, whose doctors sought to continue operating privately but were told they would be in breach of their contract if they did so.

In all, thousands of my constituents have lost access to their GPs in just a few months and thousands more are unable to get appointments with doctors in their areas. The system is simply not working. While I accept these corporate health enterprises must satisfy their shareholders, there are bigger issues at stake. It is simply unacceptable that patients, some of whom have attended the same surgery for more than 30 years and are now in their eighties, are told with only a few days notice that they will no longer have access to their doctors. It is simply unacceptable that people are being told that their local surgeries are overloaded and that no new patients will be accepted for the foreseeable future.

Medical centres are commercial enterprises but they are also public services, and with that comes an obligation to the community. It is bad enough that these clinics are being closed and that those which remain are so overwhelmed by demand that they are unable to meet community need. But to then discover that doctors at the corporate practices are contractually barred from setting up new surgeries in the same area for some years is abhorrent. When will this government act? When will this government care?