HELEN POLLEY, SENATOR FOR TASMANIA: Good morning. My name is Helen Polley, Senator for Tasmania. It's great to be here today at the practice and to have Dr Reddy here. But even for me, a great joy is to have Bec White. What a great addition she's been to the Albanese Labor government federally, representing us in this very important area of health. She's such a strong advocate with the rest of the Tasmanian team, but she understands, as I do, how important access to bulk billing and a GP is in this community in Launceston. So to Dr Reddy and his entire team, we are so grateful for what you started down the West Tamar, and now you've brought here to Newstead. It means so much to us. We all know that GP, first port of call, primary health is so important, and to have access the way you have with your very strong team, who are all committed to delivering for the people of Northern Tasmania.
REBECCA WHITE, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: We are very excited to be able to speak about better access to healthcare, and I want to thank Dr Reddy and the team here at First Point Healthcare for the work they're doing already servicing residents in the northern part of Tasmania. From this month, we are strengthening Medicare so that more people can access a bulk billing GP. Here at first point healthcare, they are leaning into that and providing bulk billing appointments for people who are using this service, which is so important. We have heard too many stories of people who have neglected their health because of the cost of going to their GP, and they've put off getting that health care treatment that they need.
One of the fundamental reasons that we're investing more in Medicare is to make sure people can access primary health care where they live and to go and see a GP, and for that to be free, for it to be bulk billed, and that's exactly what's happening here. Right across the country, we've seen about 1000 practices say - “yes, we're going to sign up and provide bulk billing appointments for all patients in Australia who are going to present to those clinics”. We have about 7000 GP practices across the country, about 1500 already bulk bill. From, the first of November we know about one thousand more are going to start bulk billing. This is a really exciting development for Australians who are looking to access healthcare close to where they live, with a GP who could provide them great care, and for that to be bulk billed.
Here at this practice, they are providing that care to patients. It is fully bulk billed. They're open seven days a week, and their team of GPs are working really hard to support this community, to have access to care and treatment that means they can live well, continue to maintain their employment, participate in training, look after their families, and that's what a good GP can do. It's not just about treating a health issue, it's about making sure a person can have a good life, and that's one of the reasons that we are strengthening Medicare. Because we understand that if we can support people to access primary health care appointments that they don't have to worry about the barrier of cost, it unlocks potential for other parts of their life. I'm just so thrilled to be standing here and supporting this practice. I'm going to ask Dr Reddy to come and talk with you about what they're doing here and what they're noticing, because patients can access the healthcare they need.
DR REDDY, FIRST POINT HEALTHCARE: My name is Dr Reddy, and she's Dr Sandhya, my wife and we started the clinic at Beaconsfield Family Medical Practice three years before us with a vision of healthcare should be a choice, but never should be a barrier to any patient. And we've been bulk billing and the triple incentive, which came for healthcare intervention card holders, has changed a lot in Beaconsfield, which we were able to provide broader healthcare and accessible healthcare services to the patients. But now, from November 1, we welcome the triple incentive expanded to every Australian who is eligible having a Medicare card, which gives us an opportunity to provide more affordable, high quality and accessible healthcare, not only at Beaconsfield now, at First Point Healthcare Newstead as well. And we thank the Federal Government for doing that.
JOURNALIST: How have the first few months been going of operating here? Are you seeing a lot of demand for your service?
DR REDDY: When we started this clinic it has been there for 18 years. When we take it over in April, we had a similar vision when we came from Beaconsfield, keeping bulk billing is our primary standpoint, offering the accessible healthcare. And over the period of six months, we have seen 2000 plus patients coming to our practice. Because always we believe, and patients believe, that healthcare should never be a choice between a financial barrier and accessing the health needs at the time.
JOURNALIST: How have you managed to bulk bill while other clinics haven't been able to?
DR REDDY: It's been very hard. As a clinical practice, principal and director, I have taken this decision, and this is only possible, not because of me, this is because of my team. Because we have in total 13 GPs across both the practices, each and every one has supported me, have a similar vision of providing the accessible, affordable and high quality healthcare for every patients. I think it's a team effort, it's not done by one GP.
JOURNALIST: When you say it's been difficult, can you kind of explain what you mean by that? Does it mean that doctors don't make as much money?
DR REDDY: Bulk billing, if not having the triple incentive for every Australian, to run a treatment to provide wages, the insurance cost to hold them is very high, so doing a bulk billing is financially not viable from a clinic, point of view. But we stood because me and my wife are GP, we had a strong vision. We thought, why not? We can do that. And we've been successfully doing that three years with positive flow in the business as well. And we did that, and we thank Federal Government always coming in place to get the Medicare paid. And getting this triple incentive would many clinics like us. It would be a way of financial support so that we can, we can concentrate on what we are doing best, that is providing the affordable, accessible health service to all.
JOURNALIST: With this change to how bulk billing is done, do you expect to see more Tasmanians will be able to access health care across the state?
DR REDDY: I wish, as I said, every individual, I always feel bulk billing is not it should be right of every Australian should not be like a service based on their background. The financial constraint should not be there. And I hope, with this triple incentive, we encourage many patients to come and see us, and there would be some clinics will be happy to join these services as well.
JOURNALIST: I can't remember. Did you state your name and title at the beginning?
DR REDDY: My name is Dr Reddy, and I'm the practice principal and director for Beaconsfield Family Practice, and First Point Healthcare in Newstead. And one more thing I want to add, is how we can accommodate - we are planning to expand the clinics to do more consult rooms. Currently we have 8 full-time GPs. We are planning to make this First Point Healthcare to a 14-16 consult room. We are planning to have 18 GPs working and giving that high quality, affordable and accessible health services to all patients.
JOURNALIST: Will that require a bigger building? Or, yeah, what kind of work needs to happen to expand a service like that?
DR REDDY: So we're very fortunate. We have a chance of expansion. We are expanding to the adjacent structure. And fortunately, our location has a 40 plus car park, which can accommodate 16 plus consults. And we are planning to go to the Council to apply for the planning permit. Currently we have 7 consult rooms with 8 GPs, and within 12 months time, with the help of the Council, we might be expanding to 14 to 16 GP consults.
JOURNALIST: So you mentioned that a thousand clinics across the country are planning to bulk bill patients, I believe. Do you know how many of those are in Tassie?
WHITE: So there are a number in Tasmania that, as of yesterday, are moving to be fully bulk billed. In my electorate of Lyons, I understand there are six practices, and that is from the far south to the East Coast and to the North West, who are moving to be fully bulk billing practices this week. Which is great news for patients in regional parts of Tasmania, and just like other parts of the country, they'll be able to access a bulk billing GP, which means a free doctor's visit for them to get access to the healthcare that they need.
JOURNALIST: Is there any way patients can find out?
WHITE: There is, it's a great question. If people are looking to understand if their GP is moving to be fully bulk billing, you can look on HealthDirect, which is a government website. You can put in your postcode, and you can find what services are available in your community. For GP practices, they will tell you if they're mixed billing or if they're bulk billing. So I encourage people to take a look at that to see where GPs might be located in their local community.
JOURNALIST: Is this, is there a timeline set on this changeover? Do clinics have to do it this month, or can they do it in a year's time? Compulsory?
WHITE: So what the government's doing is providing an incentive. We hope that through an increase in the bulk billing rate, by tripling it, we can incentivise practices just like this one to provide bulk billing appointments to their patients. Our expectation is that by 2030, 9 out of 10 appointments to a GP will be fully bulk billed because of these Strengthening Medicare investments that we're making of over $8 billion to support GP practices to support their patients to have access to bulk billing appointments.
JOURNALIST: On another matter, yesterday, you heard from community members in the Central Highlands regarding their difficulties with mobile connectivity, particularly concerns around accessing emergency services, what was your reaction to hearing some of those stories?
WHITE: It's incredibly concerning when you hear stories from people who are in an emergency situation and have been unable to access the service that they need because of poor reception. It's not uncommon, sadly, in regional and rural parts of Tasmania, to hear these types of stories, but particularly in the Central Highlands, I think it is especially acute. Some of those stories were harrowing and incredibly concerning. But the response from Telstra, and the response from NBN, is one of wanting to work with the community and in collaboration with all levels of government to make sure that we can deliver improved connectivity to these rural parts of our state, but right across the country too, there are similar challenges. There's another round of funding that will be announced before the end of this year for mobile black spot programs, and I'm hopeful that Tasmania will feature in that. But outside of that, our government is also expanding connectivity through low orbit satellite technology, so that whether you are outside in the in the bush, in the central highlands or in the city, if you can see the sky, and you should be able to make a phone call or receive and send an SMS, which will make a big difference for people who are currently dealing with really patchy reception.
JOURNALIST: This might have to do with the funding round you just mentioned, but Telstra says it's put in an application to the government for co- investment for a new base station at Flintstone. How's that progressing?
WHITE: Those matters are dealt with by the Department at arm's length of politicians. I would expect people understand it's important that politicians aren't making these decisions. We can advocate on behalf of our community, and I have done that, but I understand that round will be announced before the end of this year, and the community will then have some clarity around what the next steps might look like.