THE Coledale Community Centre is filling a much-needed role in the city’s health network as some residents struggle with the cost of GP visits and even getting an appointment.
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Last year, the centre started offering the services of a GP, with Dr Suruchi Amarasena visiting two days a week, and from early this month, Dr Soe Aung will allow the service to be extended to four days weekly.
Dr Amarasena said it had proved an important addition to the health services already running out of the community centre.
The centre bulk-billed, she said, something that was becoming increasingly hard to find, and operated as a “walk-in” service, where it wasn’t necessary to phone ahead for an appointment.
“People who can’t get a timely appointment with their GP come here,” she said.
“We also get a lot of visiting patients – from Sydney, Moree, Brisbane – people who are visiting Tamworth and find they need to see a doctor.”
Dr Amarasena worked in the emergency department of Tamworth hospital for two years, so knows only too well the large number of people who attend the ED with complaints more suited to a GP visit.
Sometimes it was the cost associated with visiting a GP, particularly for larger families, she said, or they couldn’t get an appointment when needed.
“We’re happy to provide the care and we’re taking away some of the burden (from the ED),” she said, the clinic even ringing the hospital sometimes to say they had appointments open for anyone who needed them.
Dr Amarasena said they were also getting an increasing number of patients on 457 visas who, without a Medicare card, found it difficult to access medical services.
“We try to help them out as much as we can, wherever we can,” she said.
While the community centre comes under the auspices of the Walhallow Aboriginal Corporation, its services aren’t limited to Indigenous people, with non-Aboriginal people more than welcome to attend.
Since 2013, it’s also had an important partnership with the University of New England, allowing valuable training opportunities for its nursing students.
Administration coordinator Sammy Hand said the addition of the GP service only enhanced the level of care already provided from the centre.
People can access everything from psychiatric, paediatric and sexual health services, to family support assistance, playgroups, and even a soup kitchen.
Ms Hand said the two-day GP service already attracted about 70 clients a week, with about 200 people accessing the centre weekly.
“We’re here for everybody – we’re culturally appropriate for the Aboriginal community – but we’re here for everyone,” she said.
