Calvary Mater After Hours Clinic to Reopen This Month

BY OLIVIA DILLON

18 months after it was forced to close, the GP Access After Hours Clinic at the Calvary Mater Hospital will reopen at the end of the month. 

The service was reduced in December 2021 due to funding shortfalls. 

The announcement comes after the Federal Government announced a record $5.5 million investment to restore GP Access to its full capacity. 

The clinic will re-open on Monday the 29th of May and will be operational on Weekdays from 6pm-10pm, from 1pm-8pm on Saturdays, and from 9am-4pm on Sundays. 

Opening hours at the GP Access Centre in Toronto will also increase on Saturdays, with the clinic operating from 1pm-8pm from June 3rd. 

Staff at Hunter Primary Care have thanked community members and Federal Member for Newcastle Sharon Claydon for their work advocating to re-establish the service.

Hunter regains GP Access After Hours Service

 BY EMILY WILLIAMS

Toronto's GP Access After Hours Service is being restored, Federal Member for the Hunter Dan Repacholi has announced.

The service will provide residents in Cessnock, Lake Macquarie, Morisset, Cooranbong, Toronto, and right across the Hunter with access to care from GP's and nurses outside of standard business hours.

Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler has extended the hours of the Toronto polyclinic after they were slashed on Christmas Eve in 2021 amid funding cuts by the former Government.

The bulk-billed service is available to people of all ages and hopes to relieve some of the pressure on the Hunter's emergency departments and hospital wait times.

Dan Repacholi says this is an important first step.

"Still lots more work to do around more doctors and better access to bulk-billing, but we are working on it."

Image: Dan Repacholi

GP Access After Hours set to reopen at the Mater

BY DAKOTA TAIT

The Federal Government has allocated $17 million over the next four years to restore GP Access After Hours services across the Hunter.

Operating hours at the Belmont Hospital, John Hunter Hospital, Maitland Hospital, and Toronto Polyclinic clinics will be restored, while a fifth clinic will reopen at the Mater Hospital.

The services will be bulk-billed, and it's hoped access will return to 2020-21 levels when the Mater clinic is fully operational.

Paterson MP Meryl Swanson, Shortland MP Pat Conroy, Health Minister Mark Butler, and Newcastle MP Sharon Claydon.

Last push to save GP Access After Hours before Christmas goodbye

BY DAKOTA TAIT

There's just two days left until the Hunter's GP Access After Hours service is scheduled to shut.

The Mater clinic will close for good on Christmas Eve, while other clinics will cut back on their opening hours. 

An online rally's happening today, which could be the last chance to save the service. 

At least 11,000 people signed a petition calling on the Governments to restore funding cuts.

It's hoped either the Federal or State Government could be a last minute lifeline, but New South Wales maintains it's the responsibility of the Commonwealth.

It's estimated the service saves as much a $21.7 million in unnecessary presentations at the emergency department.

There's also fear the closures and scaling back could more pressure on the already exasperated John Hunter Hospital.

Newcastle MP Sharon Claydon says it's now just 48 hours until the worst Christmas present ever.

"We cannot get by without GP Access After Hours," Ms Claydon said. "We don't have to access to bulk billing doctors in our community."

"This is a service that has proved to be exceptional, to provide quality healthcare, to be there when people need it, and to abandon this service now, makes no sense whatsoever."

More than 10,000 back petition to save GP Access After Hours

BY DAKOTA TAIT

Labor MP's were in Toronto on Friday morning, holding a doorstop with local GP's and families to help save GP Access After Hours.

10,500 people across the Hunter have signed a petition calling on the Federal Government to abandon cuts to the service. 

Shortland MP Pat Conroy says tens of thousands of families are depending on things to turn around for the better.

"As a father of young kids, I've used the service many times. My older relatives have used that service," Mr Conroy said.

"It is a great service that stops our already under pressure emergency departments from being clogged up further, and it's part of series of attacks on health outcomes in this region."

It's believed the service has provided more than a million urgent consultations over the past 20 years.

The After Hours care is also estimated to have saved $21.7 million in the cost of unnecessary emergency department presentations every year.  

Hunter GP Association Secretary Lee Fong told reporters it was a vital part of the Hunter's health infrastructure, especially for families and the elderly.

"In the after hours, GP Access provides a really urgent service to them, so if we're talking about cutting back, maybe even removing the service, what's going to fill that void?" Mr Fong said.

"I hear nothing except, 'Go to the emergency department.' That isn't good enough. This service has to be retained."

Paterson MP Meryl Swanson says it's a Hunter institution, and it should be here to stay.

"For every parent that's sat in an emergency waiting room for hours on end, at the John Hunter, at Maitland Hospital," Ms Swanson said.

"For every parent that has tried to get their kid into see a doctor when they can't, GP Access has been the answer, and this government wants to cut GP Access. It is death by a thousand cuts thanks to the Morrison Government."