The Wagga GP after-hours clinic is set to close. Photo: Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network.
The longstanding Wagga GP After Hours Service will close on Sunday (30 November), raising fears that the Wagga Wagga Base Hospital emergency department will be inundated with patients.
The federal government launched the after-hours Wagga service in March 2003. Under the model, federal bureaucracy Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network (MPHN) paid private GPs to provide night-time and weekend consultations from a clinic in Morgan Street.
The MPHN outsourced the service to private provider Marathon Health earlier this year, but has now announced that it will cease it completely. The Wagga GP After Hours Service Facebook page has already been disabled.
Wagga nurse and health advocate Rory McKenzie said he was “blindsided” by a decision that would be “devastating” for the community.
“This decision is not only disappointing — it is dangerous,” he said.
“It leaves Wagga Wagga and the wider Riverina without a vital safety-net service, putting further pressure on our already overwhelmed emergency department and reducing timely access to care for children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and those with chronic health needs.
“We were also caught by surprise by the decision; MPHN made it with no consultation.”
Mr McKenzie had previously been critical about the service not being properly funded.
“Marathon Health has failed to deliver on the promises it made to our community, leaving a critical gap in accessible after-hours healthcare,” he said. ”Just last year alone, the service had to turn away more than 1000 people seeking urgent medical support.
“Our community deserves better. We deserve transparency, accountability, and a plan to ensure local families are not left without essential after-hours medical care.
“MPHN have signed a contract with someone who couldn’t deliver, which is poor.”
MPHN CEO Stewart Gordon said the decision had not been taken lightly and reflected a “broader shift” in how after-hours primary care was delivered.
“The way people access care is evolving, and now is the time to make changes that reflect today’s changing after-hours care environment and to ensure that our valued GP workforce can continue to deliver care well into the future,” Mr Gordon said.
“While the Wagga GP After Hours Service has been a cornerstone of care for more than two decades, the care delivery landscape has changed, and an overstretched GP workforce has made the current service unsustainable.
“Virtual services such as the healthdirect helpline and Wagga Wagga GP-based Urgent Care Service are giving our local community more choices for care when their usual GP isn’t available.”
healthdirect is a free service funded by all Australian governments and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Australians can access the service by visiting healthdirect.gov.au or calling 1800 022 222, where a registered nurse will assess their condition and provide guidance.
Mr McKenzie said healthdirect was a good service that should be more widely advertised. But he said nothing was better than a physical clinic that provided face-to-face care.
“We know that there is a shortage of GPs, so we need to look at different models of care, like utilising nurse practitioners and pharmacists who can prescribe drugs,” he said.
“But they refuse to look outside the scope of doctors.”
Mr Gordon said if critical after-hours care was needed, people could call triple zero or visit the emergency department.
