Urgent - Protest against closure of community health service Picket outside Moreland Community Health Centre in Glenlyon Road, Brunswick (near Sydney Road) from Monday 28 June to Thursday 1st July, 9am to 3pm each day. If you can't come to the picket, you can phone fax and email your support for keeping the service to the relevant elected representatives and management. (see details at bottom of message) Why is the Community Health Service in Moreland closing its Medical Service? The Moreland Community Health Centre in Melbourne has decided to close it's Brunswick Medical Service. State Government cuts to funding for Community Health and the Federal Government's policies on Medicare funding have made it difficult to continue the Service. This Medical Service was established in response to community need. Many people in Moreland had complex health needs that were not met by other health services. This has not changed. The Centre was originally controlled by members of the community elected to the Board of Management. A number of years ago, the Victorian Minister of Health changed the relevant legislation and withdrew community control of Community Health Services. The Board of Management has been selected by the Minister and his Department since then. There are 29 unfilled vacancies for Doctors, in private and public practice in the Northern Region. Is the provision of medical services going to depend on where Doctors want to work? One of the reasons the Community Health Service is having difficulty employing Doctors is that they are only able to pay $35 an hour while the private sector is paying $60 an hour. This is possible because of the number of clients seen per hour. The Medicare payment schedule pays more the shorter the consultation: 2 Patients / hour Item 36 = $77.70. 10 Patients / hour Item no 3 =$102.00. Sick people with complex health problems cannot be rushed through in six minutes. Closing the Medical Service may help the Health Centre's budget but it will not fix this problem. Who will care for these people? Closing the Medical Service is not the answer. Unless there are changes to State and Federal Government policy only the rich and the well will get a quality health service. There must be a public meeting to discuss this closure and the provision of medical services in Moreland. Let them know how important a community medical service is. Ring, email or fax: Phillip Moran, Manager, Moreland Community Health Service PH: 9387 6711 Fax: 9387 5417 Andrew Rowe, Mayor, Moreland City Council email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Moreland Council: 9240 1111 Kelvin Thompson, Federal Member for Wills [EMAIL PROTECTED] Electoral Office: Ph: 9350 5777 Fax: 9350 6613 Micheal Wooldridge, Federal Minister for Health Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Electoral Office Ph: 9724 9222 Fax: 9724 9220 Carlo Carli, State Member for Coburg Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Electoral Office PH: 9384 1241 Fax: 9384 0481 Rob Knowles, State Minister for Health Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ministerial Office PH: 9616 8561 Fax: 9616 8566 This information plus more is available at Takver's Soapbox: http://www.users.bigpond.com/Takver/soapbox/index.htm -- Takver Takver's Soapbox: http://www.users.bigpond.com/Takver/soapbox/index.htm War on the Wharfies - Radical Tradition, an Aussie History Page http://members.xoom.com/takver/history/index.htm Visit the People's Justice Alliance: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~pjan/ -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
