The South East communities of Lucindale, Tintinara and Coonalpyn hope they are a step closer to having their community nursing services restored to where they were a year ago.
The Limestone Coast Local Health Network and Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network have made changes to how locals can book appointments in the three towns for basic care such as wound dressings and blood tests.
The phone lines at Lucindale have been re-directed to Naracoorte and those who were calling Tintinara and Coonalpyn, or previously able to drop in a few hours a day, are having to arrange appointments through Murray Bridge.
The health networks say services have been enhanced with appointments across more days of the week but, on the ground, many say they are seeing the opposite.
In many instances, residents say they are being directed in the first instance to travel to larger centres for appointments and the scope of health care being offered has narrowed with ECG monitors removed.
Member for Mackillop Nick McBride, who has repeatedly raised the concerns of these communities in his electorate with the state government and Health Minister Chris Picton, was instrumental in organising a meeting last week at Parliament House between Mr Picton, the area's two mayors, concerned community members and local health network executives.
Mr Picton says the local health boards, set up under the previous government to ensure local decision making, need to listen to the health needs of their communities to deliver services in the best possible way.
"I have asked the Local Health Networks to bring together consumer working groups so the local communities can have a greater input about planning for these services," he said.
He also made it clear the budgets of the two health networks had increased by 19 per cent or more than $31 million per annum since the Malinauskas government came to power in March 2022.
Naracoorte Lucindale Council mayor Patrick Ross says there have been incremental changes to Lucindale's community nursing in the past year, which the community had rightly seen as a withdrawal of services.
"Now we have got to this point where we are having appointments being made and cancelled and then shifted and then changed again," he said. "It gives no certainty especially for the aged people in our community who like to have things nailed down all the time."
He says LHN's claims that Lucindale was previously a "walk up service" and now more efficient with bookings were entirely untrue with appointments to see community health nurses a long time practice.
Mr Ross says last week's meeting was a good start and he was looking forward to another meeting between the Local Health Network and concerned residents but it would take a lot to rebuild the trust lost.
"It is now up to (Limestone Coast LHN chief executive officer) Emma (Poland) to work out what has changed about delivery of the service at the coal face and what is happening in that middle management that is making things difficult for those trying to deliver a service to the Lucindale community," he said.
Multiple sclerosis sufferer Ashley Reynolds not only wants the previous level of care at Lucindale reinstated but also improved.
He says it is "unacceptable" that Lucindale residents should have to drive to Naracoorte, especially anyone with a neurological disease like himself was unable to sit in a car to travel long distances.
After suffering third degree burns to his back and legs 12 months ago, he says the nurses at Lucindale had enabled him to come home from the Royal Adelaide Hospital burns unit and given him "exemplary care".
Lucindale post office owner Geoff Robinson - who raised the issue with Mr Picton when he was in the South East for Country Cabinet last year - has noticed the opening hours at Lucindale Clinic have gradually been reduced.
He used the service three days a week for six months recently after having a tumour removed from his head and has nothing but praise for the local nurses.
"How could I have gone to Naracoorte three days a week to have my wounds dressed when I had a business to run? And there are lots of people worse than me living here that need bloods, wound dressings and other support," he said.
These towns don't have hospitals so this is a sense of security for the residents to know there is somewhere they can go.
- Coorong District Council mayor Paul Simmons
Coorong District Council mayor Paul Simmons accepts the local Health Networks may have thought they were "stepping up a level" but in "redefining" the system basic health services they have become more difficult to access.
"One of the worst things with the current system is it is taken for granted that people will just have to travel 50 kilometres to Meningie or even further to Murray Bridge but not everyone has a drivers licence or is able to find someone to take them," he said.
At a minimum, Mr Simmons wants to see a local presence at least one day a week at Tintinara and Coonalpyn where the community knows there will be a familiar face to help them .
"These towns don't have hospitals so this is a sense of security for the residents to know there is somewhere they can go," he said. "Not everyone is tech savvy or finds it easy to navigate the health system."
Culburra mother and farmer Brydee Martin was a regular at the Tintinara Health Centre and wants to see the community have access to community nursing staff for a few hours at least a few days a week.
"In my experience I have never seen any of the nursing twiddling their thumbs waiting for something to do," she said.
She believes local health networks should be looking for ways to improve their services in small towns not reducing them during a cost of living crisis and when access to GPs in rural Australia is already a big issue.
"We have started to see people skipping regular tests and I know of cases where they have given up trying to book through the system so while there may be a drop in need for services in the short term it will just increase the load on hospitals and GPs into the future," she said.
LCLHN executive director community and allied health Karen Harris says community nursing services offer appointments five days a week in Lucindale either at the centre or a patient's home.
Previously she says these appointments were only available on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Ms Harris says all patients are being offered appointments within five business days, depending on "patient clinical priority", and blood collection services were offered at least one day a week.
"When an appointment time is unsuitable for the patient they may be encouraged to go to their local GP, or Naracoorte Health Service if they are in the area for another reason, or if emergency care is needed," she said.
Ms Harris says the LCLHN is committed to continuing consultation with the community and will be meeting with stakeholders in the coming weeks.
