“THE STAR”, Tuesday, July 16, 2013 - PAGE 27
g n i t a FAMILY DOCTOR WEEK r b e l Ce
Country practice bustling L E O N G AT H A’ S Long Street Family Medicine is growing day by day. In an average week the doctors – along with practice nurse Debbie Williams - treat between 330 and 360 patients. Dr Fred Edwards said for now the only limit on LSFM’s ability to grow was “the availability of doctors, rather
than a lack of patients”. “When we get our new doctor in a month or so, I’m sure those numbers will jump up to 500. There’s definitely a need for the clinic in the town. It’s all very positive,” he said. The two female and two male doctors are attracting a new clientele, pulling in patients from far and wide. “We’re getting a huge
response from a younger age group – the under 45s - along with lots of mums with kids. We seem to be getting a lot of girls coming to us too, because we have the two female doctors,” Dr Edwards said. “The other group we’re seeing is the farmers, the old fellas coming down from the hills to see me. They’re after men’s health checks. They talk tractors,
and cows and we even do a bit of medicine sometimes, on a bad day.” Aside from younger people, girls and farmers, the clinic is also seeing many patients from outside Leongatha. While there has been more than a few from Korumburra, Inverloch, Mirboo North and Wonthaggi, others have come from as far away as Lang Lang.
Practice manager Charlene Horkings said LSFM’s success was largely due to the great group of people working at the clinic, along with a community desperate for more medical services. “We accept new patients and the influx of people has been really positive. The clinic has been accepted really well and we’re very happy with
the progress. We’ve got a great team,” practice manage Charlene Horkings said. With onsite pathology, a fulltime nurse, the availability of professionals to conduct minor medical procedures, electrocardiography tests and pre-employment medicals, LSFM’s services are broad. Dr Edwards said the bulk billing clinic had provided employment for 12 people, as well as giving the region more medical services. “I reckon it’s a really good contribution to the area. There’s not many
companies that start up and immediately employ that many,” he said. The clinic’s reach may soon be much wider, with the possibility of a doctor being on call at Leongatha Memorial Hospital. “I think that link is going to be made, but we’re not rushing it. We’re keen for the doctors to get a lot more experience treating people at the clinic first,” Dr Edwards said. LSFM is open from 8am on weekdays (until 6.30pm on Tuesdays for late appointments), and on Saturdays from 9am to 12pm.
CARING ACROSS GENERATIONS
• KID’S CLINIC • SKIN CANCER CLINICS • QUIT COURSES • DIABETES VICTORIA LIFE! PROGRAM • CASA PILOTS MEDICALS • HEALTH CHECKS (4yo, 45-49 & Over 75's) • CO-ORDINATED VETERANS CARE • CHRONIC DISEASE MANAGEMENT • NURSE PAP CLINICS • LIFE COACHING We are proud to support the youth of our community through our Youth ACCESS Clinic
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PHONE: 5662 2201 A great team: from left, receptionist Olga Gordon, Dr Tilak Kulatunge, practice nurse Debbie Williams, practice manager Charlene Horkings, Dr Fred Edwards, Dr Krishanthi Daigala and receptionist Katrina Benson are part of the LSFM team.
Happy at home L E O N G AT H A Healthcare GP Lesley Chisholm will be celebrating this year’s Family Doctor Week (July 15 to 21) by doing what she does best – taking care of her long list of patients. “I’ve been here 23 and a bit years. It’s a privilege to be a family doctor. Having been here for such a long time, there’s people I knew as teenagers who are married and have had children. I get to treat the children as well. It’s a privilege,” Dr Chisholm said. “It’s rather nice being a rural GP, because you’re involved with the community and you get to see those other people in different circumstances. You know who their parents and grandparents are. You know a little bit more about the family dynamic, which can sometimes be causing dramas too.
“It’s a great career. I love it.” Dr Chisholm recently spent four weeks working at a clinic on remote Groote Eylandt, alongside husband and fellow Leongatha Healthcare GP, Hugh Chisholm. Groote Eylandt is the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria and homeland of the Anindilyakwa people. It lies 50 km from the Northern Territory mainland, and measures about 50 km from east to west and 60 km from north to south. Even for the seasoned medicos, the experience was something of an eye opener. The couple treated local indigenous people and mining families. While Dr Chisholm described the experience as “good fun”, it presented many challenges. “Treating the mining families was not a lot different to what we see here in Leongatha, but Aboriginal health is quite different, because they’re so sick,” she said. “The chronic disease burden is huge and they’re
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Dr Lesley Chisholm: the Leongatha Healthcare GP is happy being part of the local community, describing her work as a “privilege”. are young people in their ’20s and ’30s who have severe diseases we wouldn’t expect to see in people until they’re in their ’60s and ’70s. “They have rheumatic heart disease, which we barely see here now. There’s kidney disease requiring dialysis. That was quite shocking, quite confronting.” She believes there is no simple explanation for the situation. The Chisholms had been involved in Aboriginal health years ago in Broome, before they came to Leongatha – but it was nothing like what they
experienced recently on Groote Eylandt. “These people were sicker, which was sad,” Dr Chisholm said. The couple has also practiced medicine in The Philippines, and Dr Chisholm said the main thing she brought back from overseas working trips – along with the exotic ones within Australia - was the knowledge of “how fortunate we are to have the healthcare systems we have here”. “It’s good to have a change and do something different, but our home’s here and I appreciate being here,” she said.
However, South Gippsland is not without its healthcare challenges, Dr Chisholm said – not least of all blokey men who refuse to see doctors. With this in mind, the clinic partners have made tentative plans to open a men’s only clinic with a male doctor. But, rather than waiting until a minor medical problem becomes a major medical problem, Dr Chisholm urges her patients to have regular check-ups. She believes wholeheartedly in the axiom: “Prevention is better than a cure.”
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By Matt Dunn
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