Access to doctors and bulk billing in North West Belconnen
About the Charnwood Community Health Committee?
The Charnwood Community Health Committee is a non-partisan
community-based group dedicated to improving the access
to affordable doctors and health services for people
in Charnwood and surrounding suburbs.
Purpose of the Committee
“To work towards a Community Health Service for
Charnwood and surrounding suburbs, with bulk-billing
doctors and allied health services”
Why was the Committee established?
The Committee arose out of a special community meeting
in September 2004 following community-wide concern over
the lack of GPs and bulk-billing medical practices in
this part of West Belconnen. Residents of Charnwood,
Flynn, Fraser and Dunlop currently have no doctor in
their suburb or at the nearest shopping hub at Charnwood.
Membership of the Committee
| Name
|
Position |
Association |
| Roger
Nicoll |
Chairperson |
Flynn
Neighbourhood Watch |
| Michel
Pilbrow |
Secretary |
Charnwood
Primary P&C |
| Peter
Ljubic |
Member
- Schools Liaison |
Schools
as Communities |
| Trish
Eldridge |
Member
- community development |
Belconnen
Community Services |
| Brian
Frith |
Member
- local trader |
Capital
Chemist |
| Dominic
Demarco |
Member
- local trader |
Charnwood
Shops |
| Brian
Rhynehart |
Member
- resident |
West
Belconnen Residents Group |
| Ian
DeLandelles |
Member
- Labor Club liaison |
Canberra
Labor Club group |
| Emily
Nicoll |
Advisor
- GP and medical issues |
General
Practitioner |
| Adam
Giles |
Member
- resident |
Flynn
resident |
| Fran
Freeman |
Member
- childcare liaison |
North
Belconnen Community Association |
Patrons of the Committee
The CCHC is well supported by patrons across both the
major parties and across Federal Parliament and the
ACT Legislative Assembly. These Patrons include:
| Patron's
name |
Jurisdiction |
| Gary
Humphries |
Federal,
Liberal Senator for ACT |
| Bob
McMullan |
Federal,
ALP Member for Fraser |
| Kate
Lundy |
Federal,
ALP Senator for the ACT |
| Mary
Porter MLA |
ACT
ALP Member for Ginninderra |
| Bill
Stefaniak MLA |
ACT
Liberal Member for Ginninderra |
| Vicki
Dunne MLA |
ACT
Liberal Member for Ginninderra |
| Wayne
Berry MLA |
ACT
ALP Member for Ginninderra |
Contacts:
For more information about the Charnwood Community
Health Committee contact Roger Nicoll on 6259 2984 or
Michael Pilbrow on 6259 7065.
South Kingsville Success Could Be Duplicated Here
An innovative model of community-owned health care
helped transform health services and build a community
in Melbourne’s western suburbs and it might be
able to do the same thing here.
Today the South Kingsville Health Service is a thriving
health co-op with two locations, 7600 members, 11 GPs,
a host of allied health services, 25,000 consultations
per year and a turnover of around $2 million, but it
wasn’t always that way, according to its Chief
Executive Officer, Tim Budge.
In sharing the South Kingsville story recently with
the Charnwood Community Health Committee, Mr Budge said
that in the 1980s this low-income community was having
great trouble attracting doctors and particularly bulk-billing
doctors to the area. Through the initiative of the Baptist
Church, one doctor decided to ‘have a go’
back in 1980. Six years later the community took its
health destiny into its own hands and the community
health co-op was formed.
Under the co-op model, local residents are invited
to pay an annual membership fee of between $15 and $100
depending on family and income status and they then
become members with a share in the co-op. Members are
bulk-billed for all GP consultations and receive one
free dental check-up per year and special rates on allied
health services. The membership fees plus medicare payments
fund the operation of the co-op and any profits are
put back into the centre or the community.
Some of the advantages of such a community-owned health
model according to Mr Budge are that it:
Let’s doctors “get on with their job”
Builds local capacity and local benefits
Improves health care through a community and patient
focus
promotes genuine “community health”.
After hearing about the situation in West Belconnen
Mr Budge suggested that a membership base of around
1000 would be needed to sustain a centre with around
2-3 GPs. The Charnwood Community Health Committee is
considering this and other models as part of its assessment
of the community’s needs and possible options
for addressing them.
Chech it out:
South
Kingsville Centre Web page
Power
point presentation (you will need power point software
to view this, it is usually part of the Microsoft Office
Suite)
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