Worried sick by patient decline

A GEELONG doctor says his practice is haemorrhaging cash as patients stay away from medical clinics amid coronavirus fears.

Banksia Medical Centre owner Dr Bernard Shiu said patient numbers were down by 20 per cent, forcing him to use bank overdrafts to pay staff wages and stay afloat.

A Royal Australian College of General Practitioners survey of 1000 general practitioners and practices found almost half were unsure if they would still be operating in six months.

And 42 per cent of respondents said revenue dropped between 10 and 30 per cent amid the pandemic.

Dr Shiu said as well as jeopardising the viability of clinics, the drop-off in patient numbers had doctors concerned many people were neglecting their long-term health.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has unfortunately resulted in less patients seeking care, it’s becoming quite problematic,” Dr Shiu said. “People need to take care of their wellbeing.”

Dr Shiu said his usually busy Newcomb clinic had experienced afternoons with no bookings.

He said the decline in people seeking medical attention stemmed from advice for people not to go to clinics at the start of the pandemic.

“The No.1 thing is we wanted them not to come in initially during the first phase unless there was a need for them to come,” Dr Shiu said.

“The message was very clearly communicated to the patients.”

But Dr Shiu said despite relaxed social distancing regulations, messaging telling patients to book in check-ups and regular appointments had not been clearly delivered.

“We are lucky because we don’t have a lot of cases now, we need to send this message that going to GPs is very safe,” he said.

Dr Shiu said general testing such as pap smears, skin tests and breast screenings had “dropped off significantly” sparking fears patients could have undiagnosed conditions that would not be picked up until too late.

Dr Shiu said clinics could only be made viable if the Government’s Medicare rebate was increased. “Because the margin is not much, it puts us in the red,” he said.

A spokesman for Health Minister Greg Hunt said the Government had invested $1.1 billion in primary health care and general practice support, including the reform of telehealth, and doubling of the bulk billing incentive and the practice incentive payment.