Sophie Scamps was in the UK when she discovered a breast lump. She was just 29, there with her rugby union playing husband, but no other connections. I can't even begin to imagine how terrified she was.
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"No-one to be my health advocate or to be the one I could trust and rely on," says Scamps, who at the last federal election slayed the member for Mackellar, Jason Falinksi. "It was just this realisation you don't know the health system, don't know how it works, who to call, how to get referred. I realised my future and my safety were in the hands of someone I didn't know."
Someone she didn't know. Fortunately that UK doctor did everything to help. And when she came back to Australia, she began training as a general practitioner. It was her calling.
Scamps tells this story in a week where the headlines tell a story that general practitioners and others are ripping off Medicare to the tune of $8 billion. It's a truckload of money and it's a horrifying claim. As Jim Chalmers said earlier this week, huge if true.
My guess is that after a review, we will discover it's a combination of cock-up and conspiracy because that's how it always works. I believe that in the same way I know some journalists fabricate, some lawyers are corrupt, there are teachers who sexually abuse students. In every profession. In every industry. In every sector, there is deliberate wrongdoing.
But by and large, our GPs are saints and I fear that the stories of $8 billion worth of theft from Medicare will lead to a terrible backlash against the very people who have held our communities together for three years during COVID life.
A few weeks ago, my GP bulk-billed me for an appointment. I'd been sick for weeks. A week later, I was in hospital having a whole range of revolting tests. I've just checked what the practice was paid for her care and intention. $39.75 times two.
I was definitely in there for longer than 15 minutes on both occasions while she poked and prodded, looked up previous results, looked up various fancy specialists. They called me the next day to see how I'd managed. There appeared to be no charge for that.
I think about the time and care - and what that money, shy of $40 each time, must cover. It's a corporate practice (and how doctors are treated in corporate practices is awful - bring your own mask, for example) so quite the big proportion of that money goes to practice infrastructure.
GPs are the foundation of our primary healthcare and they are leaving in droves. Figures from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners reveal a 30 per cent drop in applications to do general practice training from 2017.
The RACGP predicted that shortage happening in 2030, not now. And Scamps is the most high profile GP to leave her practice in the last year. Now she sees her life as a continuation.
"I think that my new role is an extension of what I was doing, service and looking after the community," she says.
She has one message for Australians. Appreciate the hard work general practitioners do. And one message for her fellow politicians. Invest in primary health care, in prevention. Otherwise we are in for chaos.
"General practice is on the brink of collapse, at risk of crisis. When that story came out I felt devastated for my colleagues. I know how hard they work every day and how exhausted they are at the end of the day. I know how honest and how hard working they are. This is a kick in the guts."
And it is interesting to see both the timing of the revelations - a few moments out from the first Labor budget - and the speedy response of the government. Let's get a review done ASAP.
I want Medicare to work well and be funded properly and I don't want doctors to rip off the system. The biggest medical disaster over the past 10 years has been the underfunding of GPs, the exploitation of GPs and a political disregard of those folks who have kept us together.
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After Melissa Davey started reporting on this - and then again this week with the work of Adele Ferguson, both amazing and lauded reporters, I went straight to my Medicare history, looking for any sign of fraud. What shocked me was being billed for the bare minimum appointment when I'd benefitted from much more.
This is not to say I think all doctors are perfect. They definitely aren't. I believe there are some GPs who commit fraud, some who are incompetent or just non-compliant when it comes to administration.
I love the various GPs who've saved my health over various visits and decades and I need them to be paid more for the extraordinary work they do. I also need the government to make it possible for young doctors to be attracted to general practice. I'm delighted there will be a review. Of course they will find fraud - but I predict the main finding will be a crumbling system, the remnants of free universal healthcare.
And we need someone to rescue it. I hope it will be this government.
- Jenna Price is a visiting fellow at the Australian National University and a regular columnist.
Jenna Price is a Canberra Times columnist and a visiting fellow at the Australian National University.
Jenna Price is a Canberra Times columnist and a visiting fellow at the Australian National University.
