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Tuesday 3 October 2023
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Torch carried JIM Dickson (pictured with wife Anthea), carried a torch through Frankston last week as part of the Legacy Centenary Torch Relay 2023. He lit the cauldron at Beauty Park, which was followed by the unveiling of a plinth (picture above). See story page 5. Pictures: Supplied
Drug treatment access a ‘big problem’ Brodie Cowburn brodie@baysidenews.com.au THE closure of a Frankston general practice has left hundreds of methadone users in limbo. Frankston Healthcare Medical Centre, a private general practitioner, was scheduled to close last month. It offered pharmacotherapy treatment to patients living with drug addiction. Methadone is a common pharmacotherapy prescription. The GP’s director Nadia Siciliano told 3AW last month that more than 400 weekly patients would be affected by the
closure. She said that the state government did not support the clinic when it asked for help. “We have 1800 heroin addicts or drug addicted patients that come in that we treat,” she said. “About 400 to 500 patients a week that we see that are on methadone, sublocade, and suboxone will be at Frankston [Hospital] emergency department. “Your [emergency] department is going to explode and if these patients don’t get seen the crime rate in Frankston is going to go up because a lot of patients are going to relapse.” A Monash University report released in February revealed that private prac-
tices are overwhelmingly caring for most patients receiving pharmacotherapy treatment in Victoria. The review panel’s report, Review of the Medically Supervised Injecting Room, read that just 50 of Victoria’s 14,804 pharmacotherapy patients were in the public system. “Victoria’s pharmacotherapy system (...) is founded on ageing policy, programs and regulation and is becoming increasingly difficult to access due to significant workforce issues and a dwindling pool of doctors and pharmacists willing to take on pharmacotherapy patients,” the report read. “Provision in Victoria, for example, is substantially below New South Wales despite broad-
ly comparable need. In 2021, Victoria had only 50 public pharmacotherapy patients, compared to 8,498 public patients in New South Wales. In total, the Victorian system had substantially fewer patients (14,804) than New South Wales (24,340). “While the number of pharmacotherapy patients has plateaued over the past decade, the panel understands this is indicative of high levels of unmet need. These figures paint a picture of an underresourced Victorian pharmacotherapy system requiring far greater public funding, with access to pharmacotherapy in need of urgent expansion.” Frankston Healthcare director Sicili-
ano said that there is a shortage of doctors willing to engage in pharmacotherapy treatment, and called the situation a “big problem”. “Our full time doctor has gone on leave and we have struggled to find GPs to help with pharmacotherapy because they’re too scared to prescribe and see the patients,” she said. Frankston MP Paul Edbrooke was contacted for comment. Newly released data has revealed that drug-related health problems in Frankston and on the Mornington Peninsula are among the highest in south-east Victoria. Continued page 8