{"id":3269,"date":"2014-07-03T17:57:46","date_gmt":"2014-07-03T17:57:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/?p=3269"},"modified":"2014-07-03T17:57:46","modified_gmt":"2014-07-03T17:57:46","slug":"doctors-in-chifley-report-drop-in-number-of-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/?p=3269","title":{"rendered":"Doctors in Chifley report drop in number of patients"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3270\" title=\"Ed Husic - File Photo\" src=\"http:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Ed-Husic-File-Photo.JPG\" alt=\"Ed Husic - File Photo\" width=\"274\" height=\"360\" \/>Federal MP Ed Husic<\/strong> has urged Chifley families not to avoid going to their local GP for fears they will have to pay an Abbott Government $7 GP tax.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Medical Centres are already reporting a marked drop in patient visits since the Abbott Government announced in its proposed Budget that it would introduce a $7 GP Tax.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany patients are already cancelling appointments because they are worried they can\u2019t meet the cost of the $7 GP Tax,\u201d said Mr Husic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHowever the Tax does not come into force until 1 July 2015,\u201d Mr Husic added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am very concerned people that need medical attention are staying away from their doctor and risking the deterioration of their health.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAdditionally, doctors who had already been considering retirement have been telling me this will tip them over the edge. Areas with minimal coverage now, like Emerton and Tregear, will struggle for GP services in future.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHealthcare will not only become less affordable \u2014 but it may become less accessible. Some medical clinics in the Chifley electorate have already taken to sending computer-generated text messages to their patients telling them they are continuing to bulk bill.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Husic has discussed the issue of GP visit cancellations with respected family GP Hani Bittar at the Richmond Road Family Practice.<\/p>\n<p>Dr Bittar has expressed concerns patients who need to see their GP are holding off doing so because they believe the GP Tax is already in place and the Abbott Government know our medical professionals won\u2019t leave needy patients unattended. &#8220;A GP will not turn away a mother who comes to him with a sick child but without $7.00&#8221;, Dr Bittar concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Federal MP Ed Husic has urged Chifley families not to avoid going to their local GP for fears they will have to pay an Abbott Government $7 GP tax.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,33,36,49],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3269"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3269\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}