⏱️This edition of the National Account’s newsletter is a five-minute read.
👋 G’day everyone, Archie here.
We’re gonna do a bit of a spotlight today on the new content we’ve been making over on our YouTube channel, so let’s see what takes your fancy🗞️
If you ever have suggestions of people I should speak to, please just let me know! I do manage to read all of the replies I get!
If you want to speak for an hour and you're being rushed by a GP that wants to get onto the next person, it just sort of lessens the role of what a GP is.
🗣️ Why did he say that?
This week, I sat down with the Eastern Melburnian’s Matthew Sims to discuss his reporting on the 40% increase in fully bulk-billed GP clinics across the country, following the government's multi-billion dollar boost to Medicare incentives which came into effect last year.
Matthew spoke to Doctor Caroline Johnson, a Primary Care expert at the University of Melbourne. He learned the uptick in bulk-billed clinics might have a downside, resulting in patients not being able to get the level of care they need as process is prioritised over meaningful, prolonged check-ups.
Matthew also said clinics might only be trialling the scheme to see if it works for their business. Which raises serious questions about what happens if things don’t go the way everyone’s hoping.
Check out the full interview below 👇
Don’t have time? Here’s a 30-second snippet ⏱️
Too hot to Tram-dle 🚃
I also spoke to Matthew about his reporting on Melbourne’s public transport network, as it struggled through a major heat wave during ever-increasing extreme heat days (like we saw last week).
Matthew did some proper boots-on-theground journalism, buying a thermometer from Bunnings and hopping on one of the un-airconditioned trams that make up a third of the fleet.
During his reporting, he learned more investment is needed across the public transport system to make it more climate-ready.
Matthew told me a bias towards road networks in state and federal investment disincentivises broader usage of public transport.
Thanks for catching up with me. I hope you enjoyed this issue, and I’d love to hear your thoughts. Just reply to this email and I’ll be on the other side 👋
I’ll be back on Monday.
Cheers, Archie