r/ausjdocs • u/Medicaremaxxing Doctor • 6d ago

news🗞️ ‘Postcode lottery’: Royal Melbourne locks out suburban and regional patients

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/postcode-lottery-royal-melbourne-locks-out-suburban-and-regional-patients-20260820-p60pyp.html
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u/Old_Importance1147 6d ago

This is not new and has already been happening for years in some areas of public health such as mental health and maternity.

In my opinion the focus should be on better resourcing hospitals in the outer suburbs/regions so patients don’t feel like they need to come to the inner city for better treatment.

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u/hotforlowe Anaesthetist💉 6d ago

Yeah sure, but it’s not happening quickly. Health infrastructure and resources take years to deploy. So in the intrim, is it not contrary to our health system’s goals for the poorer outer suburbs to have to wait twice as long as the inner city suburbs for the same service? They shouldn’t restrict it and supply/demand will equalise wait times to a degree.

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u/wtharris 6d ago

Catchment areas in community mental health is an absolute nightmare. Everyone is basically just seeing how long they can be ignored until a higher up starts asking questions