Knoxfield Medical Centre

23/05/2024

At last! The unnecessary $4.5m on-road trial of medicinal cannabis users, to be conducted by Swinburne University, will start in September this year. When it is completed the Victorian Government will fooster for a year or two. They may or may not ever release the findings. The final 2022 report on a previous Swinburne study, which showed that Victoria’s roadside screening device is hopeless at detecting the recent use of medicinal cannabis, is still not publicly available. So much for open science in Victoria! Minister Melissa Horne’s paternalistic censorship of the work of Victorian scientists is deplorable.

17/03/2024

Sadly, due to doctor shortages (30% of GPs expected to retire within 5 years and few graduates entering General Practice), and lack of Government support, Knoxfield Medical Centre will be closing on 31st May 2024 after over 37 years of operation. We will be consolidating into Colchester Medical Centre.

16/12/2023

Unfortunately, due to the doctor shortage, and for the first time in 20 years we have no registrar, Knoxfield Medical Centre will be closed Friday 29th December 2023 to Monday 1st January 2024 inclusive. Colchester Medical Centre will also be closed on Saturday 30th December 2023 to Monday 1st January 2024 inclusive.

24/08/2023

Stop the sick tax
The government is imposing a new ‘sick tax’ on your general practice that means your GP will need to stop bulk billing you, increase fees or close the practice. With an inability to get doctors, we may not be able to provide the current level of service. We are already closing clinics early on some days when doctors are unavailable.

The RACGP is doing all it can to exempt the earnings of contractor GPs from the payroll tax

30/06/2023

Right now, ticket scalping laws are inconsistent depending on where you live – and they aren’t doing enough to stop people getting ripped off. Call on state and territory governments to implement fair and consistent laws to stop ticket scalping in Australia now.

30/06/2023

https://adf.org.au/insights/cannabis-legalisation-north-america/?apcid=00632cfeb8ac368345b8ad01&utm_campaign=adf-enews-june-2023&utm_content=adf-enews-june-2023&utm_medium=email&utm_source=ortto

Many places overseas are legalising cannabis, including Canada, 21 states in the USA, Thailand, and Uruguay. But what does this mean, and what are the impacts so far?

07/05/2023

We regret these changes but it is an economic necessity due to rising costs and 10 years of frozen Medicare rebates, as well as a shortage of staff. Fees will be increasing on 1st July and Telehealth consultations will be billed as for face-to-face visits (no longer universally bulk-billed). We are still very competitive and sympathetic to our patients. Please visit our website or call for more information.

06/04/2023

These lifesaving checks are currently the ONLY available Medicare items dedicated specifically to the early detection and prevention of heart disease in Australia, and they now face expiry on the 30 June 2023. Removing the Heart Health Check Medicare item will sadly result in tens of thousands of pr...

05/04/2023

We will be closed between Good Friday - Easter Sunday to eat this giant choc rabbit 🐰.

01/12/2022

Re the new Pharmacy Prescribing Trials which would allow pharmacists to prescribe and sell medications (no PBS rebate):

“GPs train for 12-15 years to have the expertise to diagnose conditions that are being covered in some of these trials.

“You can’t replace that training and experience with a few hours of weekly online training without putting patients at risk.

“General practitioners are highly skilled and equipped to diagnose the difference between a UTI and other serious and potentially deadly health conditions.

“They are equipped to take a full medical history of their patients and understand the full range of contraceptive options available to women.”

The six questions for state governments to consider are:

1. What are you doing to make sure there’s no potential conflict of interest in these trials?
2. Why are you blocking some of the most vulnerable women from access to the full range of contraceptive options?
3. Why do you think it’s acceptable to shift the cost of paying for medicines from the Government to the patient?
4. Why are you ignoring the advice of Australia’s medicines regulators in deciding what can be prescribed in a pharmacy?
5. Why are you ignoring the position of the Pharmacy Board in determining that pharmacists can autonomously prescribe the medications they sell?
6. When did you determine that your citizens no longer deserve the world-class care provided by GPs?

The AMA has posed six questions to state governments conducting pharmacy prescribing trials asking them to explain how they can justify responding to GP shortages with second-class policies that risk patient safety.