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The appalling Health system

Posted By Rocksygal52

"The appalling Health system"

About: Bunbury Hospital / Emergency Department Busselton/Dunsborough Mental Health Service

(as the patient),

Not one Specialist in Bunbury  W. A. Bulk Bills. I think this is appalling, so what happens to people that cannot afford exorbitant private specialist fees? Do we all just die? I feel that these are greedy specialist who have the monopoly of both Bunbury Hospital and Busselton Hospital. Also, where do people that are on Pensions or low incomes that  live in the South West go when they need to see a specialist? I need to use a Cardiologist, ENT, Lung Specialist, Eye Specialist, Cardiovascular Specialist, plus I have had 14 major operations and am a Diabetic, have Chronic Fibromyalgia and Vascular Desease

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Responses

Response from Wendy McKinley, A/Operations Manager, Coastal, WACHS - South West 6 years ago
Wendy McKinley
A/Operations Manager, Coastal,
WACHS - South West

Submitted on 19/02/2018 at 6:28 PM
Published on Care Opinion on 20/02/2018 at 11:32 AM

Dear Rockysgal52

Thank you for your post regarding specialist services in Bunbury and Busselton.

I appreciate that this is a difficult situation for you and I am very sorry to hear that you have been having such challenging health problems.

As you noted, many of the specialist services in the South West are provided by private specialists who have the right to decide whether they offer bulk billing options. Private specialists deliver services that may otherwise not be available locally, so they are an important part of the health system.

The majority of medical specialists in the South West provide outpatient services through their private practices and inpatient services to public hospitals through WA Country Health Services (WACHS). The inpatient services are free to eligible patients.

Some specialists may bulk bill pensioners and, on prior arrangement, bulk bill for financial hardship. Your GP may be able to assist you in identifying a specialist(s) prepared to bulk bill for your consultations.

With such a complex health situation, I see there may be some benefit from speaking with one of our senior practitioners who could work with your GP to review and/or develop a comprehensive care plan and ensure all available supports are in place for you.

I am very interested to speak with you and I encourage you to contact me on (08) 9753 6300 so that we can work through these issues together.

Thank you again for taking the time to post and I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely

Wendy McKinley

A/Operations Manager

Coastal Health Services

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