Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with great sadness that I stand here today to raise this issue in the parliament. GP Access After Hours is a service that has been operating in the Hunter since 1999 and has serviced over a million Hunter residents. I remember, when I was a state member back in 1999, that there was much lobbying of both the state and federal governments to establish this service. I think it is a model for the delivery of after-hours medical services. Unfortunately, in this year's budget, the government did not secure its future.

The Hunter Medicare Local has been negotiating with the government and the Department of Health for some time. Yesterday, it announced that from 30 June it would be winding up that service. That is absolutely devastating, because so many Hunter families have received services from GP Access After Hours. I know I have attended it on occasion, as have my children and grandchildren. It is one of the services that are loved by people of the Hunter.

I put a post on my Facebook page yesterday about the fact that Hunter Medicare Local had announced that it would be closing GP Access from 30 June and I was overwhelmed by responses. Denise said that it was a poor decision that will cost more time and more money to already overrun emergency and other hospital departments, and that is exactly what it will do. People will go to emergency instead of going to GP Access. Alternatively, their children will get sicker or they will get sicker, and they will end up in acute-care hospital situation.

The Minister for Health said that the department was continuing to work with the Medicare Local to ensure GP Access continued. Well, my message to the member for Farrer is: don't talk; act—because this is a service that every person in the Hunter relies on, every person loves, and it should be a service that is rolled out across the nation. It should not be left in limbo by a minister that cannot consult with local communities. (Time expired)