Echuca Apex Hall will host the Voices for Nicholls health forum on Wedneday, October 16. Photos: Aidan Briggs
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
The Voices for Nicholls team is set to host a health forum in Echuca on Wednesday, October 16, with experts, including Dr Sue Harrison, leading community discussions.
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Held at the Apex Hall, the event looks to understand the community’s health concerns, like the availability of and access to services.
The forum aims to give members of the community insights into the state of regional healthcare, as well as take on their perspectives.
Voices for Nicholls spokesperson Christine Sebire intends for the concerns brought up at the forum to inform the health policies of the Voices for Nicholls-endorsed independent candidate.
“It’s really about hearing the voices of the people in the electorate to find out what the really important issues are,” she said.
“For us, it’s about providing the opportunity for us to have the conversation.
“When we have a candidate, then the information that we’ve gained from Sue and from the community will form what will become our health policy.”
Dr Sue Harrison will lead the discussion at the forum.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Dr Harrison will help facilitate the forum, along with support from GV Health chair Michael Delahunty, drawing on her decades of experience as a general practitioner in the community.
She is also a member of the Rural Doctors Association of Australia and chair of the Rural Doctors Association of Victoria and has received a Medal of the Order of Australia for her service to rural medicine.
“I’ve been a rural doctor here in Echuca for 40 years,” she said.
“I think that it’s not just a rural problem, but I think it’s a problem that is greater in rural areas, the struggle to get access to general practitioners.”
Dr Harrison expects the issue of general practice accessibility to be brought up at the forum.
This lack of access can worsen existing health problems that could have been treated effectively if patients had access to a doctor sooner.
“I want to speak up on behalf of the doctors who are doing their best in what is a really challenging environment,” Dr Harrison said.
“Thirty years ago, if you wanted to make an appointment with your GP, you’d probably get in tomorrow. Now it would be three, four weeks, maybe six weeks for some of the more established doctors.
“Obviously, that doesn’t best serve the needs of the community, nor does it actually serve the doctors very well, because we’re always playing catchup.
“We’re also having to deal with things in hospital that probably shouldn’t have got to hospital.”
Another concern that Dr Harrison sees is overcapacity at Echuca Regional Health, where emergency department staff are picking up the slack for the gap in access to general practitioner services.
“I certainly see lots of people complaining about access to general practice who are utilising the hospital,” she said.
“I work in ED at the hospital, I think they provide a great service.
“But it costs 10 times as much to see a doctor in the hospital by the time we pay all the other staff and things ... compared to if you’re seeing someone in a general practice.
“Whilst the ED does a great job, it’s not their job to provide general practice services or chronic disease management, and in fact we end up doing a lot of both of those things just trying to patch up around the edges.”
The Voices for Nicholls team is also looking to host a forum on disabilities down the line, another topic that the group has flagged for community discussion.
Any inquiries about the health forum and the Voices for Nicholls campaign can be directed to Christine Sebire on 0411 627 645.
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