Residents from the northern suburbs continue to turn away from seeking medical care due to a lack of bulk billing services.
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The issue is continuing four years after the Launceston City Deal promised to investigate and implement long-term solutions to health access as part of a northern suburbs rejuvenation plan.
Starting Point Neighbourhood House manager Nettie Burr said she constantly had conversations with clients about the lack of bulk billing clinics and access to medical care.
"We absolutely need bulk billing doctors clinics in Ravenswood. We have those conversations all the time with clients," she said.
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"People just don't go to the doctor because they can't afford it, or they can't afford the transport."
The Launceston City Deal, announced in 2017, promised to investigate long-term solutions to issues facing the northern suburbs as part of a community action plan to drive the economy.
That plan, dubbed the My Place, My Future program, aims to rejuvenate the Northern Suburbs and create more employment and economic activity to drive the suburbs towards growth.
One of the six priorities the plan is expected to focus on is access, such as access to preventative health services, to a GP, to leisure activities, housing, food and transport, of which bulk billing is one solution.
While the My Place, My Future plan launched in 2020, the implementation plan stalled due to the pandemic.
Ms Burr said the community house, based at Ravenswood, recently participated in an anticipatory care project with UTAS researchers, that examined the barriers to medical care access in the area.
Unclear guidelines and lack of bulk billing was identified in the study as a problem for health access for the communities studied, of which the northern suburbs was one.
The cause has recently been taken up by independent candidate for Windermere and City of Launceston councillor Rob Soward.
Mr Soward recently wrote to Bass MHR Bridget Archer to propose a solution to the problem and seek her support to build a bulk billing clinic in the area to alleviate the issues.
Ms Archer said while she supported the idea of a bulk billing clinic, it would not alleviate the complex problem of health services.
"I am certainly always willing to further explore the idea of a bulk billing clinic and have initiated discussion with Minister Hunt's office," she said.
"However, it's important to recognise that there are a number of complex considerations around the provisions of primary health care and setting up such a clinic as many of the challenges that currently exist (such a recruiting and retaining doctors) would not be overcome but simply setting up such a clinic so these wider issues still need to be addressed."
City of Launceston general manager Michael Stretton said work on the My Place, My Future implementation plan had halted, but work continued in the background.
"The My Place My Future Plan is designed to provide an integrated approach to revitalising and supporting Launceston's northern suburbs, and will involve input from individuals, community groups, the private sector and different tiers of government," he said.
"While the release of the project's implementation plan has been delayed by COVID-19, work on the project is still continuing apace."
"In coming weeks the council will be sharing details on a new project in the northern suburbs which will improve accessibility to telecommunications and internet services."
Mr Stretton said while the council was not responsible for health accessibility, it was still working collaboratively with the project's partners to improve outcomes wherever possible.