Katter speaks out about health emergency

December 20, 2024

FEDERAL MP Bob Katter is demanding immediate action by the government to address a dire doctor shortage in the North Queensland electorate of Kennedy.

Mr Katter believes an overhaul of the health system is required at the federal level and has written to the Minister for Health, Mark Butler MP.


Mr Katter is echoing the call of KAP deputy leader and state member for Hinchinbrook Nick Dametto, who has long been on the ground advocating for improved medical service delivery in towns like Cardwell and Ingham.


Mr Katter was adamant he could not ignore the cries of the doctors, nurses, mayors and other concerned constituents who contacted him about this crisis.


“We are hearing from medical professionals across regional and rural Australia, as they struggle to provide critical care,” Mr Katter explained.


“It’s not their fault. They are trying - really trying - to do their job, without access to real support and appropriate funding.”


Mayor of Hinchinbrook Shire Council, Ramon Jayo, expressed his concerns to Mr Katter, requesting federal representation for the shire, home to more than 11,000 residents.


“As the region with the oldest demographic in the state,” Mayor Jayo wrote, “Hinchinbrook was fortunate enough to have a generous representation of practitioners to patients, a matter our Council utilised extensively in promotion of liveability in our district, but that is no longer the case.”


“I understand that there is little or no incentive anymore to draw doctors out to true rural and regional areas. When you consider that cities such as Townsville and Cairns are classified in the same rural/regional category as say Ingham and Hughenden, you must question whether the incentive is real,” he concluded.


One unnamed GP in the Kennedy electorate had this to say,


“Patients come with long lists… (which means) going home and checking results for hours…


“…missed results and fatigue-related errors due to extreme workloads, system dysfunction/communication, and long wait lists at the hospital…


“This is real. We cannot maintain standards with this level of funding. We close or we go complete private billing.”


With declining incentives to attract and retain medical practitioners to regional areas, healthcare quality across many towns has been significantly reduced, with patient wait times of anywhere between four to six weeks.


“We don’t have time up our sleeve. Just because it’s Christmas doesn’t mean people don’t get hurt or sick,” Mr Katter warned.


“This is not a fight we will give up – this is literally life and death, and we plan to see this through to the end.”


ENDS

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