Shot in the arm

By Dion Teasdale
PATIENTS in the Upper Yarra may not have to wait too much longer to get after-hours medical attention in their own community.
Plans are under way to establish not one, but two, out-of-business hours medical services – one in Yarra Junction and one in Warburton.
Dr Peter White, who runs the Yarra Junction Medical Centre, hopes to establish an after-hours service staffed by a triage nurse in the town early next year.
At the same time, Gembrook MP Tammy Lobato and a team of Upper Yarra community representatives are working on creating an after hours GP service at the old Warburton Hospital.
Dr White, who will relocate his practice to Yarra Junction’s video shop in November, said he wants an after-hours service to operate from the new premises.
He said he was in negotiations with the Eastern Ranges GP Association (EGA) and hoped the service would be funded by the Federal Government.
“The service, to be made available from 7pm to 10pm weeknights and from noon to 10pm on weekends, would be run by a triage sister,” Dr White said.
“Patients could contact the sister by phone, or come in personally and be assessed.”
Upper Yarra Community Voice president Glennice Mathers said she was “over the moon” at the prospect of an out-of-hours medical service in Yarra Junction.
“As a first step, it would be fantastic to have a triage nurse after hours, and then we would hope to have doctors come on board down the track,” she said.
However, ERGPA chief executive Kristin Michaels said she had some concerns about Dr White’s proposal.
“A triage service in Yarra Junction, without the support of on-site doctors, is not medically safe,” she said.
Ms Michaels said after-hours medical services often saw patients turning up requiring acute medical attention.
“You get people having heart attacks or with their appendix about to burst and (having) no doctor on site presents all sorts of legal problems,” she said.
Ms Michaels said the association was focused on reviewing its proposal to service the Upper Yarra with a mobile GP service instead.
Despite Ms Michaels’ reservations, Dr White said he was determined to see a triage service in Yarra Junction.
“It may be that we need a triage model like the type used in remote parts of Australia, where nurses have extra qualifications,” he said.
“We might have to jump through hoops to make it work, but this is what the community wants.”
Meanwhile, investigations into the possible use of the old Warburton Hospital site as the home for a range of health and community services are continuing.
Ms Lobato said the Upper Yarra Community Hub Project Group was engaged in negotiations with the private owners of the site.
She said the group was exploring whether the site could be used to deliver a range of health services including mental health, respite and aged care.
The provision of these services, she told the Mail, would lead to extra GPs in the region, and she hoped an after-hours medical service could be provided from the site.