Michelle Slater
Latrobe City will ask the state and federal governments to help tackle doctor shortages and to help retain general practitioners in the Latrobe Valley.
The motion was raised by Cr Sharon Gibson at Latrobe City’s December meeting after being contacted by a local resident who was battling to find a consistent doctor to treat his ageing parents.
“So many problems were not being addressed because there is no consistency. If you don’t have a doctor who is consistent and understands your needs, then there is an issue,” Cr Gibson said.
Latrobe City will ask state and federal health ministers for initiatives to ensure there were enough general practitioners to work in Moe, Morwell, Traralgon and Churchill.
It will also ask for initiatives to retain general practitioners to properly meet the ongoing needs of the Latrobe Valley community.
Cr Dale Harriman said he had heard some locals were waiting for up to four months to see their regular doctor.
“If you’ve had a doctor for a long time, they understand your idiosyncrasies, of if you are exaggerating or keeping something quiet,” Cr Harriman said.
“It sounds terrible, but there’s an overflow of doctors in some of our capital cities with mega clinics being built running 24 hours.
“We have clinics here where we can’t see a doctor five days a week between three and five. The long-term retention of GPs is exceedingly important if we are to grow our regional city.”
Cr Graeme Middlemiss cited an example of attempting to see his GP for a prescription, to be told the doctor had completed his “experience period and went back to Melbourne”.
“So, it’s back to square one. I don’t know why the Latrobe Valley appears to be the poor relative when it comes to the supply of medical practitioners,” Cr Middlemiss said.
