00:00When Richard and Julie stood at the reception of their GP and were asked to pay a fee for the first time in 25 years, they were shocked.
00:10The couple have a number of chronic health conditions and without help face hard choices.
00:16If I had to go and do it all on my own, no, I couldn't afford it, no.
00:21So me, epilepsy would suffer because I just couldn't afford to go and see the doctor as well as pay for the medication.
00:29The Hullerans are not alone.
00:31A wellbeing survey by the Greater Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue found access to health care is residents' number one concern.
00:39We need to make sure that GP services are affordable for people in Western Sydney.
00:43We need to make sure that there's enough GPs to go around to meet growing demand.
00:47The Hullerans' doctor, Ken McCrory, agreed to keep bulk billing the couple, but says relying on individual doctors isn't sustainable.
00:56To keep a GP practice open these days costs a hell of a lot more than Medicare from the 1970s rebates us for.
01:03Just in my region alone we've had 30 practices close in the last year.
01:08Census data shows more than half of the people in Sydney with diabetes live in the west.
01:14The number of hospitalisations from preventable illnesses is also much higher in places like Campbelltown when compared to inner city suburbs.
01:23And the vast majority of GP appointments are bulk billed.
01:27With the state budget looming, the Hullerans hope for more security.
01:31For something like access to bulk billing to become unavailable to us would certainly impact us.
01:38Until then, they rely on people like Dr McCrory to keep them healthy.
Comments