More than 8,000 patients in Katherine are holding grave concerns about their healthcare service as the town’s only accessible clinic Gorge Health is set to close its doors tomorrow, leaving vulnerable and elderly residents with no option but to travel to Darwin for care.
CLP Member for Katherine Jo Hersey has called on the Gunner Government to intervene on the eve of the town losing its primary healthcare service.
“The Minister claimed there are contingency plans. What are they? There are concerned people who need to know,” Ms Hersey said in a statement.
“This has been an ongoing issue and something I’ve been dealing with every day since my election, so the Government cannot say this has come out of the blue.”
The next nearest private clinic from Katherine is in Humpty Doo, 245 kilometres northwest of Katherine.
“This will put extra strain on patients, especially vulnerable or elderly patients, and also on the Territory’s healthcare system,” Ms Hersey said.
She said Health Minister Natasha Fyles should explain to the Katherine community how the Government can intervene to address the people’s healthcare needs until a buyer can be found to take over the GP clinic.
“Around 8,000 patients use the GP service in Katherine, including many elderly members of the community,” she said. “There is a lot of concern and angst among these residents about how they will access healthcare from tomorrow.”
Mrs Hersey suggested a new buyer would have to be found to continue the GP clinic’s operation.
“In the meantime, the Gunner Labor Government should explain how it will help out and fill the gap,” she said.
Gorge Health Clinic’s fate
Dr Peter Spafford, who owns the practice, previously told the NT Independent they’re renting the building in which they operate and his landlord has been told not to expect rent from him after November 30.
Dr Spafford said they had been operating on a razor thin margin and wait times had stretched to four weeks as the just two doctors wade through back to back appointments, and have had to turn patients away.
He said he shared the burden with just one other doctor because he was battling an Australia-wide chronic shortage of health professionals with little help from the government.
“It has been a really tough decision, but it is unsafe to practice,” Dr Spafford said.
“People were getting frustrated and angry with the wait times. You can’t follow up adequately or have that continuity that is really important.
“We were basically saying come back in a month and that makes it extremely difficult to make it safe for patients.”
The Australian General Practitioners Alliance, the peak body for GP-owned clinics, said the reduction in patients were delivering a “brutal” hit to many clinics already operating on razor-thin margins.
The President of the Northern Territory Australian Medical Association Dr Robert Parker also feared that this is a big crisis for Katherine.
“Without a GP, Katherine’s emergency department will become the default for things like scripts. But that doesn’t address primary health care needs, and it is already very busy,’” Dr Parker said.
He said when Gorge Health clinic closes, non-indigenous community will be forced to find alternatives.
While three Aboriginal community-controlled health services still remains to provide primary health care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Katherine and surrounding areas.
“Ultimately the best resolution will be for a new buyer to continue the GP clinic’s operation. In the meantime, the Gunner Labor Government should explain how it will help out and fill the gap,” Ms Hersey said.
“Last week in Parliament, the Minister wanted to play politics about whether or not I’d been offered a briefing on the issue. I don’t care about that, what I care about is knowing what the Government is going to do to help. Leave the silly politics out of it.”
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