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Care Opinion

Inadequate number of doctors

Posted By health watch

"Inadequate number of doctors"

About: Exmouth Health Service

(as a service user),

I have been living with pain in my hip for some time. I was not able to get a doctors appointment for nearly 6 weeks due to the lack of doctors in Exmouth. I was then required to get an ultra-sound on my hip as well as get some blood tests done relating to another issue. I had the blood tests done in a timely manner, but I had to wait for over 3 weeks to get the ultrasound on my hip as there is no radiographer in Exmouth permanently, so I was required to wait for the 'visiting' radiographer. I have now had the ultrasound, however I have been told that I can not get the results of these tests, either the blood tests or the ultrasound until next year as the GP appointments are fully booked for over 2 weeks and the roster has not been finalised for after that due to the lack of Drs.

I believe this is not the first time Dr rosters have made it impossible to see a GP, unless we go through the Emergency Department. I feel this is an incredibly poor use of the ED and just puts the Drs who are on shift under pressure, as well as the people, especially those who are mothers with younger children having to wait god knows how long to be seen.

This is not good enough. Our town deserves better than this.

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Responses

Response from Aasta Abbott, A/Director Population Health, Midwest, WA Country Health Service 4 months ago
Aasta Abbott
A/Director Population Health, Midwest,
WA Country Health Service

Submitted on 5/12/2023 at 5:34 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 5:49 PM

picture of Aasta Abbott

Dear health watch,

Thank you for reaching out to us on Care Opinion.

I would like to offer our apologies that you have faced difficulties obtaining both radiography and GP appointments. I can confirm that workforce challenges have impacted our ability to staff the radiography department on a permanent basis, we will continually seek to alleviate this problem.

Due to the intermittent access to a private GP practice in Exmouth, WA Country Health Service are contracted to provide GP services for anyone in the community to use them. Unfortunately, this can result in extended wait times for appointments at certain times of the year. I can confirm that the GP Clinic is normally staffed at the contracted level.

There is currently a private GP Clinic operating in Exmouth, you may wish to make some enquiries with them regarding availability of appointments and the fees involved.

I do hope I have assured you of our commitment to providing ongoing GP services to the Exmouth community. If I have not addressed any of your concerns fully, please don’t hesitate to contact me. My name is Aasta Abbott, I am the Acting Operations Manager Gascoyne and can be reached on 9941 0300 or wachs-midwest.gascoyneoperationsmanager@health.wa.gov.au

Regards

Aasta Abbott

Acting Operations Manager Gascoyne

WA Country Health Service - Midwest

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