Federal government's GP Access After Hours funding refusal 'pathetic', Sharon Claydon MP says in notice of motion in parliament

The MP put up a notice of motion Monday with Meryl Swanson MP, calling on the federal government to restore funds to GP Access to stop the December 24 closure of the Mater clinic and cuts to other clinics' hours.

The motion also demanded the government "abandon any efforts to further reduce funding" to GP Access and provide extra support to expand the service to areas of need in the Hunter, while using GP Access as a model for after hours healthcare across Australia.

"The Minister for Health has a review sitting on his desk, which, if implemented, would totally gut our GP Access After Hours Service - effectively wiping out any hope retaining an after-hours service as we know it," Ms Claydon said.

It comes after the government did not commit to restoring the funding in a response to Ms Claydon last week, urging Hunter Primary Care, which runs GP Access After Hours, to instead write to the NSW government, which had reduced its funding contribution to the clinics since 2020-21.

Ms Claydon said this was "nothing more than a silly exercise of pointing fingers".

"Sadly, the Morrison Government would rather continue the blame game with the NSW Liberal Government about who should fund primary health services than stop the closure of this essential frontline service," she said.

"It's clear that the Morrison Government has absolutely no clue what it's like for sick Novocastrians trying to access affordable healthcare, and it's clear that they have no plan for the 15,000 people who will be impacted by these cuts.

"Over 11,200 people have signed my petition and this number continues to grow each day. Hundreds of people from the community have reached out to me and to share their stories of what this service means to them and their families. They have expressed their dismay and disbelief, their frustration and anger over these cuts."

She also said it was "madness" to cut a service that saves the government millions of dollars each year in taking the burden off the public health system.

"This government's stubborn refusal to restore funding to our GP Access is pathetic," Ms Claydon said.

"The GP Access funding shortfall is a drop in the ocean for the Commonwealth's budget, but it has a very large ripple effect, and this money must be restored immediately."

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