A healthy review

It is reasonable that the State Government would review the nurse-led after-hours medical clinic at Gumeracha hospital, particularly given it was a first-of-its-kind service that emerged out of community concerns about the loss of the emergency department.

The review will hopefully paint a clear picture of whether the clinic is meeting the community’s needs and is good value for the taxpayer.

However, the fact that it has only just been publicly revealed raises some serious questions about the future of this service.

The Barossa Hills Fleurieu Local Health Network hasn’t explicitly guaranteed that it will continue after the review is finalised next year and, while it hasn’t been ruled out, the fact that it is quiet on the matter suggests that the clinic’s future could be dependent on the review’s findings.

Governments have a responsibility to ensure that taxpayers’ money is well spent, but the northern Hills community has seen multiple health service cuts since 2020.

If we don’t see acute medical services reinstated at Gumeracha hospital and if the nurse-led clinic is cut, it will leave the region’s healthcare services in the worst state in living memory.

This will undoubtedly impact on the health and wellbeing of residents living in the townships of Birdwood, Mt Torrens and Kersbrook, let alone those living at Gumeracha.

It’s encouraging that the local health network wants to reinstate acute medical services at Gumeracha hospital.

But the State Government, SA Health and the local health network must not allow the challenges facing local GPs to result in permanently inadequate health services in the northern Hills region, nor must it allow a continuation of the cuts we have seen in recent years.