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Posted: 2024-08-13 19:31:42

In short: 

The closure of the Snug Medical Centre in southern Tasmania next month is expected to put pressure on already strained health services in the region.

About 13,000 patients will be affected by the closure, including some from nearby Bruny Island.

What's next?

Some doctors from the centre may relocate to a new facility in nearby Margate, but its opening may be months away.

Like a lot of older Tasmanians, Jeff Self has a few health issues.

"I've got issues with my vision, with my eyes. I've got prostate issues, which is a common thing for guys who are 65 and older," he said.

"Each of those [issues] is really on the edge. I could at any moment require more drastic intervention."

Having a GP who knows his health history is important to Mr Self.

"To be able to walk in and say 'good day' and sit down [with] him knowing what sort of issues I'm going to bring up. That makes a huge difference rather than having to start afresh," he said.

A man in a colourful jumper and blue beanie standing outside.

Jeff Self has been seeing the same GP for six years.(ABC News: Luke Bowden)

The medical practice Mr Self has attended for the past six years, at Snug, south of Hobart, will close in September; triggered by the retirement of practice owner Dr Robert Hamilton. 

About 13,000 people across Bruny Island and the Channel region attend the clinic.

It is the fourth GP clinic in greater Hobart to close its doors in the past four months.

There are efforts to establish a new practice in Margate with the clinic's remaining doctors, but is not expected to open until next year.

A cream weatherboard building used as a medical centre.

Doctors from Snug Medical Centre may relocate to a new clinic in Margate.(ABC News: Luke Bowden)

Bruny Island residents impacted by clinic closure

Mr Self has booked in one last appointment at the medical practice. 

"There's certainly disruption and inconvenience and concern that just goes with knowing that the practice that you've attended is going to close," he said.

Mr Self lives on Bruny Island, where there is a long wait list at the three-day-a-week GP clinic.

Drone photos of a seaside town near the beach.

Bruny Island is not accessible by road, making access to health care challenging.(ABC News: Luke Bowden)

Bruny Island, a 20-minute ferry ride and 10-minute drive from Snug, has a permanent population of about 600.

According to Victoria Bull, chair of the Bruny Island Community Health Services Advisory, its residents are "older and sicker" than those on mainland Tasmania.

She said the island's GP service was at "tipping point" with about 800 patients on the books.

"It will increase that load exponentially because a lot of the [residents' health needs] are very complicated and not just needing a quick appointment with the GP," Ms Bull said.

Generic photos of a health centre on Bruny Island.

Bruny Island Health Centre operates three days a week.(ABC News: Luke Bowden)

Bruny Island's GP clinic is run by Ochre Health, a Sydney-based healthcare company that operates 17 clinics across Tasmania.

Ms Bull has expressed concern about access to wider health services on the island. 

She said a visiting social worker and psychologist was much needed to lessen the burden on the already busy GP clinic.

"At the moment they are trying to fulfil those roles, so [residents] are coming in with lots of mental health issues," she said.

Generic photos of a health centre on Bruny Island.

Bruny Island Health Centre has about 800 patients on its books.(ABC News: Luke Bowden)

Aged care residents affected

About 10 residents at the Snug retirement village are seen by visiting doctors from the Snug Medical Clinic.

Operator Christian Homes Tasmania has said the service would not be disrupted as a GP from its other aged care facility at Kingston would continue the round.

"The GP who, luckily for us has agreed to pick up those extra residents. She's holding a very large load already," chief executive Glenn Hardwick said.

"It's hard to find GPs in aged care generally. It's not a favoured practice for GPs, but in rural GP practices, even more so."

The Snug retirement village has offered onsite space to GPs relocating from the Snug Medical Centre to allow them to keep a presence in the town until the Margate practice opens.

A man in a black suit speaking to media.

Glenn Hardwick says its hard to encourage doctors to take up general practice in small towns.(ABC News: Luke Bowden)

Workforce challenges remain, despite cash injection

Managing the workforce remained the biggest problem facing Tasmania's primary care sector, according to the state branch of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP).

RACGP Tasmanian chair Toby Gardner said it was often hard to replace retiring GPs.

"There's just not a willingness for junior doctors to move in and take over because a lot of these doctors have been working tirelessly for decades to maintain their small communities, working seven days a week, working on call," he said.

"It's actually pretty hard to encourage doctors, financial incentives or not, to move in and do that sort of work."

Toby Gardner sitting in a light-filled room, with trees visible through the window.

Toby Gardner says Tasmania should look to overseas-trained GPs to bolster the workforce.(ABC News: Ashleigh Barraclough)

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