An Albanese Labor Government would reverse over $500,000 of annual Liberal cuts to the Hunter\u2019s GP Access After Hours service, securing the future of these crucial after hours healthcare clinics.
\nAfter two years of Liberal cuts to the service, operating hours have been reduced at the GP Access After Hours clinics at Belmont Hospital, Maitland Hospital, John Hunter Hospital and the Toronto Polyclinic, while the clinic at Calvary Mater Newcastle closed its doors on Christmas Eve.
\nThe Prime Minister has refused to rule out supporting a recommendation for a further funding cut, which if approved would end this vital service.
\nThis is a devastating blow to the Hunter community, especially in the middle of a global pandemic. Almost every Hunter family has used this vital service.
\nThis service sees 50,000 patients a year and provides 70,000 telephone consultations, alleviates pressure on overstretched hospitals and has been estimated to save the broader health system almost $22 million per year.
\nFor example, when the Belmont After Hours Clinic was forced to close temporarily, waiting times at the Belmont Hospital Emergency Department blew out\u00a0from 2.5\u00a0hours to six hours.
\nLike so many Liberal decisions about funding health services, cutting funding to the Hunter\u2019s GP Access After Hours service just doesn\u2019t make sense.
\nReduced hours of operation and closure of services have led to an incredible local campaign to get services restored, led by the local community, the Hunter GP Association and the four Labor MPs and candidates who have fought passionately to retain their treasured after hours care service.
\nUnlike Mr Morrison, Labor has heard the message loud and clear and an Albanese Labor Government will restore cut funding as a priority.
\nLabor built Medicare, we protect Medicare and we\u2019ll strengthen Medicare if the Australian people elect an Albanese Labor Government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An Albanese Labor Government would reverse over $500,000 of annual Liberal cuts to the Hunter\u2019s GP Access After Hours service, securing the future of these crucial after hours healthcare clinics. After two years of Liberal cuts to the service, operating hours have been reduced at the GP Access After Hours clinics at Belmont Hospital, Maitland … Continue reading “Labor Will Save the Hunter\u2019s GP Access After Hours Service”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14426\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}