Private Members' Statements Community Health
20 March 2024
Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (15:45): I rise today to reiterate my commitment to ensuring that the government and local health networks continue to provide accessible community health services in Lucindale, Coonalpyn and Tintinara. As you are aware, Mr Speaker, Country Health Connect has changed the way it delivers community nursing services in these towns. This has, quite rightly, angered me and many locals who rely on these services. They can no longer book locally or receive certain treatments. Some are being forced to wait days to see a nurse or travel up to 100 kilometres to Murray Bridge or 50 kilometres to Naracoorte.
I have had productive talks with the health minister and the local health networks. They were left in no doubt of my strong feelings about this issue. They have committed to setting up working groups to get a clear understanding of the issues. They admitted that something is not working. They have assured me that this was not a budget-cutting measure and that the intention was never to reduce services. They say they are committed to providing access to nursing care closer to home.
It is my aim to keep the government and the local health networks accountable. It is my aim to see towns like Lucindale, Coonalpyn and Tintinara have access to community nursing care when they need it. We have a doctor shortage in regional towns. We have medical clinics no longer taking on patients because they cannot keep up with demand. Now, more than ever, we need to expand community health nursing services to work in conjunction with GPs, not make it more difficult to access nursing care. I look forward to updating the house on the outcomes of this review and will push to see this completed as soon as possible.
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