Australian Medical Association (NSW), Media Release, 16 September 2022

Health leaders gathered today for an emergency health summit in Lismore to urge the State and Federal Governments to immediately support healthcare services in the region.

In an unprecedented show of solidarity, representatives from the AMA, the Pharmacy Guild, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, the NSW Rural Doctors Network, and the Rural Doctors Association of NSW called for the provision of immediate grant funding to healthcare providers that were impacted by floods earlier this year.

“It’s been more than six months since the floods devastated the region and many healthcare service providers have yet to recover,” said AMA President, Professor Steve Robson.

“In between peeling paint from ceilings and ripping up lino from floors, these health service providers are trying to heal a community that continues to be deeply traumatised by natural disaster.

“General practitioners, pharmacists, medical specialist private practice owners, and allied health providers face significant financial losses. In addition to sustaining structural damage to their workplaces, they lost specialist medical diagnostic and treatment equipment, consult beds, pharmacy dispensary storage, and more. Many owners face damages tallying upwards of $1m.

“These businesses are struggling to stay open and questioning their long-term viability. If providers are forced to shut their doors, patients will lose essential medical care. This would be catastrophic for the community and compound the physical and mental suffering residents have already experienced.

“Governments need to act now to ensure Lismore retains a vibrant medical community,” Professor Robson said.

The health organisations are urging the funding of the NSW Rural Doctors Network’s (RDN) Healthcare Flood Recovery Grant Proposal, which would create a Northern Rivers healthcare business grant.

“Flood-affected communities must have access to health services and health professionals. These are essential services. Our proposal enables a solution to help keep businesses open, whilst we investigate further strategies to ensure their long-term viability,” said Mike Edwards, Acting CEO, NSW Rural Doctors Network.

There are an estimated 10 non-government healthcare businesses with a high level of damage in the North Coast region and a further 15 healthcare businesses with moderate damage.

The health organisations are calling on Government to contribute $15m in immediate grant funding to restore these health services.

“The amount needed to ensure the viability of these healthcare services is paltry when compared to the cost of providing healthcare in hospitals or via locums,” said AMA (NSW) President, Dr Bonning said.

He added that Lismore Base Hospital and providers in surrounding communities would be hard-pressed to soak up the patient demand should these services close.

“Demand on public hospitals is already overwhelming and the system is struggling to meet performance measures across the State. Emergency presentations are up, time to treatment has increased across the board.

“The Rural Health Inquiry laid bare the challenges in regional healthcare service delivery and found people living outside of metro areas face significantly poorer health outcomes, greater incidents of chronic disease and greater premature deaths.

“If the State and Federal Governments fail to support the existing services in Lismore, what hope is there of attracting and retaining more healthcare workers to the area?

“Why would a GP or non-GP specialist choose to live in a region where they know Government did almost nothing to save the services that previously existed?

“Lismore is not the first and nor will it be the last community in Australia, or even NSW, to be affected by a natural disaster. What message does Governments’ inaction send other healthcare workers about setting up a practice in a regional location?” Dr Bonning said.

In addition to calling on immediate grant funding for healthcare providers, the AMA is calling on governments across the country to agree to declaring all regional and rural health services as essential services for the purposes of support and recovery in the event of a disaster.

This would open up access to immediate financial support and resources to rebuild damaged or destroyed health facilities and replace equipment to ensure communities could continue to access these vital health services.

“No community health service provider should have to experience the funding uncertainty that healthcare businesses in Lismore have faced over the last six and half months,” AMA President, Professor Robson said.

“The financial, emotional, and mental stress these business owners have been under has been enormous, and yet their communities depend on them to relieve their own physical and mental burdens.

“We learn a little more from each natural disaster about the actions that need to be taken in the immediate response and recovery for communities. Lismore has been the blueprint for necessity in ensuring all health services are treated as essential services,” Professor Robson said.