Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about an important local issue in my electorate which I have been working on for the past few weeks. Recently, due to a commercial decision, a medical centre, Healthpoint Belmont, closed its doors to local residents. This has caused great anxiety to many of my constituents who unexpectedly lost access to their family doctor, some of whom have been visiting that particular centre for over 17 years. As I am sure you can understand, Mr Deputy Speaker, a doctor-patient relationship is not one that can easily be replaced. These relationships are based on trust and understanding built up over many years. The loss of this relationship and access to their local GP was a common concern expressed by the many constituents who contacted me in my office and asked for my assistance. The timing of the closure prior to winter is particularly distressing, as the clinic primarily services an older demographic who are more susceptible to illness during the winter months.

A potential new owner has been identified and an application for the centre has been submitted to the City of Belmont. I am now working with Councillor Glenys Godfrey and Dr Sri and former Healthpoint GPs to get the new centre up and running. With Dr Sri and Councillor Glenys Godfrey, I organised a community forum on 10 June where over 60 concerned residents braved a very wet and windy day to support the reopening of the centre. It was actually the day of the mini cyclone that hit Perth. Confirmation at the community forum that there were plans for a centre to reopen and provide bulk-billing was received with applause and relief. As we all know, there are fewer and fewer bulk-billing services across the country, so to secure one for Belmont residents will be a great result.

Much hard work has been done. Plans are now before the council and I believe the deputation to the council was done last night. They are due to vote on the plans at the meeting of 26 June. I would like to thank the City of Belmont's CEO Stuart Cole, the mayor Phil Marks and councillors, in particular Councillor Glenys Godfrey, for their support and assistance. As Stuart Cole, the CEO, said to me, there is definitely a community need for this medical centre.

Another issue raised by the clients of Healthpoint was the removal of the medical records without consent and now the holder of those medical records is charging the clients, most of whom cannot afford to pay the $30, to get their records. I have written to the business and I am waiting for a response. Hopefully, it will be a positive response because as that area is a lower SES area, the second lowest in the state, many of those clients who are looking forward to getting their medical records back when the centre is reopened simply cannot afford $30.

In closing, the campaign to reopen the Abernethy Road Medical Centre is a great example of a community working together to achieve a common goal.