Solution to doctor shortage
Read the story here: GP closes after five-month staff search
I am currently in Kenya, staying with friends who are both in the medical profession. I showed them your story this morning (we are seven hours behind) about the closure of the Montville clinic.
They could not believe such a thing could happen.
Kenya has an overabundance of highly qualified people, from nurses through to top-level doctors who cannot get a permanent position. Most now obtain positions in Canada and the UK, but many would love to come to Australia for a new opportunity and I could almost guarantee their employer would be very satisfied.
I have to say that in the 26 years I have been coming to this this country, there are two things that strike me most: the first is the strong work ethic of almost all Kenyans and certainly those I have met in the medical field; and the second is the dedication to their position once they have a placement.
If Australia is so short of doctors and nurses, why do they not communicate with the Australian High Commission office in Nairobi for possible recruits through promotion? After all, Kenya was a Commonwealth member and still operates under most of the rules and regulations.
The medical people I have met here are extremely competent and well trained.
Australia, do something about this, especially with the aging population we apparently have.
Heather Haythorpe, Kenya
Medicare conveniences
I read this article with interest and was floored to read the comments from our local MP Andrew Wallace.
I contacted Mr Wallace via email prior to last year’s election raising my concerns regarding the lack of bulk billing and shortage of doctors on the Sunshine Coast, to be told by his office that this was not a problem and that the Coalition was doing a magnificent job with Medicare.
As most people know, the problems with Medicare have been there for years and I expressed my disappointment with his response (I still have copies of the emails).
Now Mr Wallace is in opposition it seems convenient for him to now spout the problems with Medicare.
No wonder people have such a low opinion of politicians – do they think we are fools?
Shame on you Mr Wallace, your lack of integrity will be for you to live with.
Mike Griffin, Caloundra
‘Cracks starting to appear’
In addition to my comments on Medicare in the article Essential health service closes its doors after five-month search for staff (SCN, February 8), I would like to add Labor won office in 2022 on the promise that they would strengthen Medicare. Unfortunately, this government has only weakened Medicare and broken multiple promises to ease the costs of living and running a business.
In addition to 70 telehealth services cut and access to mental health visits being cut in half, Labor promised they would build 50 “urgent care clinics” in its first year of government to take pressure off GPs and the hospital system. The Prime Minister, with great fanfare, announced last week the opening of Expressions of Interest of just seven of these clinics in WA, none of which are likely to open within the first 12 months of this government.
Labor also appears to have dropped its much-vaunted commitment to fund aged care pay rises and they have deferred their signature election promise aimed at supporting state and territory health systems, at a time when we are seeing ambulance ramping at an all-time high in Queensland and across the nation.
When we were in government, the Coalition presided over record levels of Australians accessing bulk-billing services. From 2012-13, when we came to government, expenditure on Medicare was $19.5 billion and we grew it to $31.4 billion in 2022–23. Across all Medicare services, the bulk-billing rate reached a record high of 83.5 per cent in the December quarter 2021, an increase of 6.5 per cent since 2012-13.
Coupled with the benefits of unprecedented spending on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, Medicare and the PBS have provided Australians with excellent universal health care which has been the envy of the rest of the world. But cracks are now starting to appear.
The pressure on GPs to pass on out-of-pocket costs is due to several reasons, including rising costs of running a practice and a nation-wide workforce shortage. Adding to these pressures, GPs were – until Queensland Labor gave an 11th-hour temporary reprieve a few days ago – faced with additional red-tape and costs in the form of payroll tax.
Rural and regional areas are experiencing significant pressures in attracting and retaining healthcare workers – i.e. doctors and nurses. The rural and regional health workforce issues could be addressed if the Albanese Government cleared the backlog of Skilled Regional Visas – and prioritised the applications of skilled healthcare workers the rural and regional communities are crying out for.
The Home Affairs website indicates 90 per cent of skilled regional visas are being processed in 27 months. If a healthcare worker applies for a Skilled Regional Visa, they are put at the bottom of the pile and not given priority processing by the Immigration Minister Andrew Giles.
This has been confirmed in official correspondence from the Department of Immigration which states: Subclass 887 (Skilled Regional) Visa applications are not made in relation to a specific occupation and therefore fall within priority five – all other visa applications.
This is on top of the Labor Government changing the Distribution Priority Areas for overseas-trained doctors. Labor prioritised the outer suburbs of our capital cities in a change of Coalition policy last July, which has placed greater strains upon existing primary healthcare systems in towns like Montville.
I call on the Federal Government to immediately reverse its decisions that have adversely affected health services in rural and regional communities.
I will continue to hold the Labor Government to account to make good on its election promises so that Australians receive the universal health care they deserve.
Andrew Wallace, Federal Member for Fisher
Stop playing blame game
How great would it be if the Queensland Coalition party gave us the options as to how they would fix these issues instead of just bagging the current government.
I read where a heath clinic has to close because they couldn’t get doctors or nurses to work there, and even advertising for them on the Coast didn’t help.
The health system is in dire straits because there’s not enough doctors or nurses to fill the needed positions; not the government’s fault, the Coalition obviously has their heads stuck in the sand if they think this is only Queensland’s problem (or are we not a part of the rest of Australia – last time I looked we were).
As for the ambulances, where does the LNP think they will get them from or do they have a special storage of them, along with the doctors and nurses, that they will miraculously produce if and when they win government?
As for youth crime, this also seems to be something that cropped up when the government was voted in because these youths are protected Labor voters. Waiting with bated breath to see or hear how the young LNP leader and his deputy is going to fix this – maybe they could also tell the rest of Australia how it should be done. Good luck with that because the do-gooders have give, youths rights to do as they wish.
Back when I was a youngster we respected the police, principal and teachers, and god help you if you got in trouble with any of these because you then had to front your parents. Talk about learning respect for those in charge. Nowadays with their rights, parents are prisoners of their children and do-gooders who probably never had children.
Come on LNP, tell us your solutions and don’t keep blaming the sitting government, otherwise put up or shut up. Queensland is a part of Australia and when I last looked these problems were happening everywhere.
Barry Chin, Currimundi
Lives at risk
Read the article here: Koala deaths prompt rescue group to plead for action
We totally need to protect koala and human life. People put themselves at risk to save them, I think I would do that to.
Bring on the funding. Who do I need to petition?
Debbie Macquarie, Scarborough
Legal obligations
While the recent editorial in the Sunshine Coast News and the advocacy of the Wildcare group regarding koalas is welcome and positive, it is largely after the fact.
Surely up front and before any action is taken the Minister and TMR have an obligation to know, be guided by and obey the purposes and objects of law under the:
- Planning Act 2016 s3, s5, s7 and s4; and
- Environmental Protection Act 1994 s3, s4 and s5; and
- Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 s3 and 3A; and
- Nature Conservation Act 1992 s3, s4 and s5.
Both the Planning Act at s2 (a) (ii) and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act at s3A (b) legislate for the application of the ‘precautionary principle’.
The Planning Act legislates for ‘ecological sustainability’ and the Environmental Protection Act and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act legislate for ‘ecologically sustainable development’, both concepts clearly defined in the respective Acts.
The Conservation Act legislates for the conservation of nature – simple as that.
So, why is the endangered koala and so many other native species and natural systems, ecological processes, ecosystems and biodiversity still not being effectively protected? Why are they still endangered?
Where are the government and non-government entities’ policies, mission statements, planning, risk assessments, processes and procedures, controls, review, internal and external audit, compliance strengthening and non-compliance correction review for the purpose of continuous improvement?
What is the point of the purposes of the Integrity Act 2009 and Public Records Act 2002 when so many persons and entities seem to do what ever they like in their own self-interest with scant regard for the provisions of the law?
Do so many presume they will not be held to account, let alone prosecuted under existing law, and if any action is taken ‘clever legal argument’ will get them off the hook regardless of what they have done.?
Why don’t judges and magistrates perform their role that is to ‘interpret legislation’, follow the basic rule ‘words of a statute must be given their ordinary literal meaning’, ‘words be interpreted so as to avoid absurdity and best achieve what appears to have been the purpose of the Act’?
Colin Verrall, Coolum Beach
Kind gestures rebuffed
Read the article here: Ashley: saying ‘goodbye’ to rudeness
I agree with Ashley Robinson regarding unfriendly locals on the Sunshine Coast. Previously, I have always greeted people with a smile or hello wherever I have lived, and always received the same or more in return. Many friendships developed from this. However, when I moved here three years ago I was absolutely gobsmacked at the hostility this approach caused.
As well, in my unit block I have met with rudeness and aggression whenever I tried to make friendly gestures to the other inhabitants here.
No wonder there’s so much loneliness here.
Beverley Allen
Reduce the speed limit
Read the story here: Commuters air their ideas for fixing road problems
I agree that the speed limit needs to be reduced. I live on Bradman Avenue and have mobility issues so I’m fearful to even attempt crossing the road. Maybe if cars weren’t going so fast I would have a chance.
Jaye Singer, Maroochydore
Rail operator failing Coast
Read the article here: Rail row: pollies lashed for ‘insulting’ locals during visit
Since the 1980s I have been saying in the media that the QR line to Maroochydore and the airport was urgently needed. Back then we had regular coaches from Tewantin via the Coast to and from Brisbane with Skennars. However, it was obvious with the development of the Coast that a rail connection would be needed and even the bridge over the Sunshine Motorway at Maroochy Boulevard was built to accommodate the rail tracks into Maroochydore and onwards to the airport.
It is a duty of government to provide infrastructure and the various state governments have all failed in their duty in regards to this vital rail line. There is now no way that this State Government can build this railway before the Olympics because they are too slow. Globally, the Chinese are building rail infrastructure and providing excellent rolling stock so our only chance of having the railway built would be if it is contracted to them. And in the meanwhile get rid of Translink, which simply does not understand how to operate trains to the Coast hinterland.
Who in their right mind would operate nearly all trains that stop at all stations to Petrie and then go semi-fast from there into the City, as the current trains do. We need fast inter-urban-style trains that stop at stations to Caboolture then only Eagle Junction and the City. With old trains so slow with so many stops, a terrible infrequent timetable and fairly high fares, it is little wonder that Coast residents drive to Brisbane. It is not the rail lines that are to blame but the way they are operated.
Ken Coulter, Ilkley
Overpass required
Read the article here: More lanes: have your say on 10km motorway upgrade
Making this roundabout larger isn’t going to fix the problem. The only way to fix it is to put an overpass in, plus new lanes on motorway.
Joan Carroll, Coolum
Time for action on e-scooters
Read the article here: Urgent safety reminder as e-scooter popularity grows
As much as I would have liked to have found an individual to address this to, that proved too difficult. Had I found the name, this is the email I would have sent:
I am writing to lodge a formal complaint regarding e-scooters in use here on the Sunshine Coast.
I am requesting that all levels of law enforcement and local, state and federal elected officials act in every way available to them, irrespective of jurisdiction, responsibility (perceived or otherwise) or obligation. This issue is too serious, too important and too far-reaching to be duck-shoved to “the department responsible” (just so long as it’s not yours).
Enough is enough. I’m demanding action be taken as a matter of urgency to avoid any more injuries inflicted on people by unregistered, unrestricted, uninsured and unsupervised hooligans with no respect for other members of the community. I’ve personally witnessed a number of “near-misses” in the past and been frightened out of my skin by these “silent menaces” that whisk past me at ever-increasing speed and frequency. Most do not wear helmets; none give warning of their approach (no bells) and none have respect for pedestrians walking the footpaths (the key word here being “foot”) and even the “shared” pathways that we all have the right to enjoy.
Cyclists enjoy the protection of a one-metre safety barrier between themselves and motorists (who pay registration, compulsory third-party insurance and fuel costs), but pedestrians have no such protection from e-scooters (that pay none of the above) on pathways that are often less than two meters wide anyway. Cyclists are also required to sound a warning when approaching pedestrians (though many still do not), but it appears e-scooter riders have this requirement waived also.
There appears to be no minimum age for ownership and/or operation of e-scooters on our public pathways so ever-increasing numbers of privileged yahoos are embracing this latest form of urban menace. So, just for the benefit of all you pacifists who bleat “they’re just kids”, let me share with you the latest encounter where two of these “kids” (they had to be 16 or more by the way, so hardly kids) whisked past me (way closer than one metre away) and apparently another gentleman further along the same pathway at what must have been in excess of 30km/h. The other gentleman suggested 50km/h, but let’s err on the side of conservative estimates for now. They had no helmet, gave no audible warning, had no formal means of identification and presumably no public liability insurance that I can claim on when they bowl me over.
What happens when they do (and they will, sooner rather than later) bowl someone over and cause injury? Who is responsible for the medical costs? How many of these ratbags are even going to stop to check if their victim is OK? I put it to you that they will just dust themselves off and get out of there as quickly as possible. There is no registration plate to take note of to identify these individuals so that formal complaints can be made and charges laid. As I mentioned earlier, these two people were at least 16 years old. Based on the current push to have them be able to vote at 16 years of age, I can only assume that they will also be liable to face charges in the courts at 16 years of age too. They certainly should be because they are causing very “adult” injuries.
So, enough of the “pretending that it’s not an issue” because it is. Enough of the duck-shoving; take ownership of this and act. I call on you all to act; to act decisively and to respond to my correspondence directly so that I know you have received it, and also to inform me of the action you intend to take.
You were all elected to your respective offices by the people of the Sunshine Coast, and you all have a responsibility to react to issues raised and to act in a manner that protects and safeguards the members of the community that elected you into office. This is your call to action.
I look forward to receiving your correspondence and to witnessing the actions taken.
GM (name supplied), Dicky Beach
Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor at Sunshine Coast News via: news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. You must include your name and suburb.
