Health care system has broken
I AM writing to you to support the comments made by our hospital chief executive Peter Abrahams (“Help on standby”, The Guardian, October 21).
Medical services at hospital and general practice levels have never been under more stress.
The cost of providing health care has gone up by 23 per cent in the past decade but Medicare rebates have increased by just 11 per cent, making many general practices barely viable.
COVID and its effects on staff levels have finally broken the system. This has affected all aspects of health care in Swan Hill.
However, on a bright note, at Swan Hill Medical Group, we are committed to providing holistic family medical care.
We are a fully accredited general practice and have a responsibility to make available appointments on the day.
To support our resident GPs, we are sourcing highly-qualified locum doctors on a regular basis.
We accept bookings online via HotDoc. Our telephone lines are open from 8am, Monday-Saturday, and 9am on Sunday and public holidays.
For urgent on-the-day appointments, please be prepared to give our reception staff some idea of the problem so that we can better attend to your needs.
Ange Duncan,
Manager
Swan Hill Medical Group
More time needed to respond
IN 2017 – five years ago – the report of an inquiry into Victoria’s retirement housing sector was tabled in Parliament.
I’ve advocated with retirement village residents since 2019 for legislative reform in response to this inquiry and sector-wide concerns about dispute resolution, transparency of disclosures and emergency plans.
The State Government recently, and finally, released an exposure draft of its Retirement Villages Amendment Bill for public consultation.
After much lobbying in conjunction with residents, we’re pleased to see the Bill includes a requirement for villages to develop emergency and evacuation plans.
The public consultation process is welcome, but an October 28 deadline for submissions gave interested Victorians less than three weeks to consider the draft bill and respond.
The government says this is due to caretaker conventions that suspend government activities during an election campaign. As a result, if re-elected, it has committed to re-open engagement with the community.
Recent floods will make it impossible for some retirement village residents in Northern Victoria to participate, so it is important consultation is extended before this Bill is brought to Parliament.
Those interested and able to review the proposed reforms can read a draft of the bill at www.engage.vic.gov.au/retirementvillagesact.
It is estimated that more than 45,000 people aged over 55 live in 33,000 residences across more than 400 villages across Victoria.
These are important reforms that affect a large number of people and it is only fair that they are given proper time to have their say.
Tania Maxwell
Member for Northern Victoria
