I moved to Port Macquarie from Adelaide in 2010 and was dumbfounded when trying to find a local GP, only to be told repeatedly “the books were full”.
Eventually I found a practice that had a GP who recently moved to the area so “still had some spots available”!
My aged mother, who has lived here for 30 years, recently had need of her usual GP urgently. A receptionist told her that she would have to wait four days to make an appointment, or go to the local hospital. Mum has had the experience of sitting in the waiting room for five hours without eventually being seen, so refuses that option again.
Have you tried ringing the emergency department of the Port Macquarie Base Hospital? I have. After ringing the medical hotline and referred back, I was only allowed to speak to an admin person with the response “we can’t let everyone talk to a nurse”.
So, is triage no longer a qualified medical decision in Port Macquarie?
The Hospital Emergency Department is NOT the place for non-urgent treatment of patients and long waiting time is greatly exacerbated by local medical practices sending all and sundry to the hospital.
My suburb in Adelaide has a greater population than Port Macquarie and fewer GP practices per capita. It may take a week or two to book an appointment for non-urgent cases, but they planned for contingencies and were always prepared to see their patients quickly when required.
Qualify patient care?
Sue Tonkin
Port Macquarie
