The Future of Health and Pushing for Change with Dr Gordon Reid MP

so today I'm joined by our local labor MP for Robertson Dr Gordon Reed from studying medicine and beginning his career as a doctor Dr Reed worked an emergency and through this time on the front line particularly during the covid-19 pandemic felt there were many improvements that needed to be made within our health system it was this desire for change that prompted him to run for Parliament and he has now been in office for 2 years from the ongoing impacts of the pandemic and vaccination fatigue to climate change and how the government plans to increase its support for Women's Health Dr Reed gave us a glimpse inside Parliament as we unpack some important issues around the future of Health you're going to love this one let's get into [Music] it Gordon thank you so much for coming in today welcome to the podcast thank you for having me this is this is fantastic I'd love to know how you've got to where you are today tell us a little bit about you yeah so my my journey to becoming a member of parliament isn't isn't linear there were things and and other parts of my life that uh were started already so I um obviously Born and Raised on the Central Coast did my schooling here um I went to the University of Newcastle and did my medical degree there uh and was lucky enough to actually finish my final clinical years at Gosford and Wang hospital so being from here I wanted to make sure I continue to study here so that was really exciting for me and did my internship residency and uh senior residency in Gosford and Wang hospitals um following that I then um became a a CMO so I worked in various emergency departments um across the state so Willen gong katumba um shell Harbor W and Gosford as well and for anyone listening who doesn't know what's a CM a career medical officer so I hold general registration and can work can work in the hospital but I'm not a specialist okay um so I was an emergency doctor at that point and following my time as as an ed CMO I uh and I can go into this a bit more uh I found that there were some some things in the system that I wasn't particularly happy with and you know things I wanted to change and um you can either have a spray on social media and complain about it or you can try and do something about it and um so that's when I put my hand up to to run for federal Parliament and you know we we've we obviously had a successful campaign to that and um now I represent the electorate of Robertson which is the southern half of the Central Coast for those listening and the Central Coast now has a combined population that's roughly the size of Cambra so it's quite a quite a big a big electrc and so anyone outside Australia what's the population size roughly yeah so roughly the southern half of the Central Coast um there's roughly 140 130,000 it's the same amount in the the northern electr of dobell and then there's a little bit of the of the electrc above that in shortland that is the bottom 30 is on the Central Coast so all of those combined um you've got about the same same amount of people in camera okay so from first Spark of idea to throwing your heart in the ring what kind of period of time would you say so interestingly I was I actually wasn't involved in politics prior um I wasn't part of a big major party I wasn't um part of any political movement I was obviously interested in in politics and and and policy creation um I think most doctors are um because it directly impacts how we practice you know there there's a story I tell in my in my first speech to Parliament so um every every MP but in particular every new MP gives their first speech to Parliament as an address in reply to the governor General's speech that they give when they open up the new Parliament and you get about 20 minutes and it's pretty much the only time in your parliamentary career where you can say what you want and people have to listen to you uh and no one will Heckle you so Ted Talk it's like a TED talk it's welcome to my welcome to my Gordon talk um all about Gordon at that at that moment and so there was a time during sort of the height of Co between two big two of the big Peaks where it sort of it had died off slight ly and uh we saw people still coming in with Co and other respiratory Illness but you know we saw uh people coming in because they hadn't been to their GP in quite some time so a lot of those uh chronic medical conditions had exacerbated to become you know more serious medical issues so you know your hypertensive hypercholesteremic patients those with quite significant vascular issues you know presenting with um presenting with heart attacks presenting with with stroke presenting with u with PE whatever it might be um there was lots of people that couldn't afford their medication so people rationalizing so taking their blood pressure medication every second third day uh their blood thinners every second third day not taking some at all um and only picking the scripts that the through discussion with their pharmacist and Doctor were the most important um people fleeing family in domestic violence uh people who didn't have anywhere to go couldn't afford to keep the power on for their heat or their air conditioning whatever it was um the the emergency department had become quite a hub for that so um you know I I took a step back at that moment and thought well you know we can definitely be doing better than this and um I knocked on the door of a of a local Senator and said i' I'd like to put my hand up to to run for Parliament and it's it's been a privilege and an amazing journey to this St so and so how long have you been the local MP for a little over two years now uh a little over two years and so the the way that it worked was I was pre-selected by by my political party so by the labor party um and then that means that I can be put forward as the candidate and and run a campaign so um we weren't really a Target seat U was considered safe by the other side so it was very Grassroots in that regard so an example of that is um my now Deputy Chief of Staff and Chief of Staff um we were we were a little unit um and me and me and Jesse the other gentleman he um we dwn knocked 30,000 home homes by ourselves um I wore a hole through one of my boots wow which was devastating cuz they were one of my favorite boots and they were expensive um and you know that's that's what we've tried to take into the job now is it's not your job to come to me it's it's my job to come to you um and to learn what your issues are and then take that to the highest levels of executive government or as I always say it's my job to annoy people on your behalf um so we did that my dad drove a trail around with my face on it um my sister did my social media uh my mom and my now fiance did um a lot of the the catering for my my events and things and um we we used to get old core flute signs old posters and right on the back in Tex uh like the issues that were important to us like uh GP access or climate change and the like and we'd hold them up and wobble them on the side of the side of the road and um you know and that that campaign ran over a number of months and um on in May of 22 we were we were successful so it's um it's it's been a fascinating experience um I have a very good team some of the most kind humble hardworking people you'll ever meet um and you know I and not to blame my own trumpet but you know we have past legislation and we've done things that I believe have have benefited the country and will um for future years to come well tell us a little bit more about that yeah um so fun fact the the very first piece of legislation the very first law that I was on the floor of the parliament to pass uh was the climate change act so that legislated our emissions targets and our focus on renewable energy and really uh gave investment certainty to to renewable energy and also um showed the showed the people of Australia and people of the Central Coast that we were serious about climate change um and that was a really special moment for me that was one of the big things I campaigned on was making sure that we took action on climate change and seeing that bill pass was a very special moment um but there have been other ones that and that's a big Bill and that's that will have um impacts for years to come and there's a lot of big Regulatory and systemic changes that that caused um but there are other pieces of legislation where I've seen uh and other sort of regulatory changes where I've seen the effect happen on the ground actually in emergency um so one uh one such one such example of that is we um we passed out cheaper medicines legislation and changes to regulation there um so we lowered the lowered the co-payment um making it sort of easier more affordable for people to get medications um examples of that um for people listening who are medical uh you know your your you me foreman and your diabetes medications or your blood thinners like a pixer ban for sort of stroke prevention in af or whatever it might be um blood thinners and diabetic medications to those that aren't medical um and you know I I saw patients coming in into Ed that could then afford could now afford their medication and I could see that happening on the ground and that was a very reassuring moment for me that one I'd made the right decision to go into a more governance role um but it was it was quite special to know that you know we are we are changing people's lives so yeah amazing and so obviously it's been a bit of an initiation of fire you've had two years in politics has there been anything that's sort of surprised you or anything that's different than you thought it was going to be yes um it's it's nothing it's nothing like you see on television um one of the biggest surprises for me was actually bipartisanship um 95% of what we do in Parliament is bipartisan um it just doesn't make for good television so you know we we debate legislation we make amendments to legislation we have we have we do a lot of work on committees health committee um Aboriginal Affairs and the like you know we we debate and we we create this policy but the majority of it is actually agreed um amongst the major party quite significantly it's only the 5% where we ideologically disagree that you'll see on television um so for example one of my one of my good mates um in CRA um his name is Keith he's the federal member for mens's um he's a conservative he's a liberal um so you you you find that you you gravitate or you become friends with people that you never thought you you would and Keith and I don't agree on everything that's the nature of democracy and debate but you know we've become quite good friends over that time so I think by partisanship has been something that's very much surprised me being someone who wasn't in the political realm that was really surprising um and also to how respected Australia is on the international stage so our office does a lot um in foreign affairs um and I've been on multiple International delegations and led delegations to different parts of the world um and Australia's input and Australia's presence is something that is very much sought after um by people across the world and our our opinion and what we say matters so that's also been something that um not necessarily surprising but something that um has really I become very passionate about and something that I think is is fantastic yeah amazing so interestingly when you look at research doctors tend to be very respected and trusted and politicians unfortunately tend to be not so respected and not so trusted and it's interesting there are quite a few doctors in Parliament y there are um is that something that concerns you no this is something I say all the time I've gone from the the most trusted profession to the least trusted profession and I think part of what I want to do locally but probably more broadly is reestablish that trust with um with the community and their elected representatives and and there there are more doctors in Parliament now and health professionals I should say than ever before who have that same opinion so you know myself in emergency we've got um Dr Mike Freelander he's the member for MacArthur in Western Sydney he's a pediatrician um we've got Michelle anander Raja U the member for Higgins she's a um infectious disease physician uh we've got uh that's that's in the labor caucus we've got Jed Carney the assistant Minister she's a nurse um and we've got Emma McBride um she's the member for dobell we carpool together um down to CRA she's a pharmacist and we've got on the crossbench there's manique Ryan the member for kuong um she's a pediatric neurologist uh we've got Sophie scums she's a GP and a public health doctor um and then we've got David Gillespie in the Nationals and he's a retired uh gastroenterologist so um you know there's quite a few in that medical doctor's caucus and I think what it really what it does is it makes Health policy and health debate front and center of what we do on most days which I think is I think is it's good for the country I think yeah absolutely and do you feel that people talk to you differently when you've got your different hats on so when you've got your doctor hat on do you feel people approach you differently than whenever you've got your politician had on no not not really I mean obviously sometimes people are always asking for for advice and the like but I think in both of those roles in Ed or in in in my parliamentary role people have a problem obviously they're going to be vastly different but people have a problem um you know in medicine they they've got chest pain or they've got shortness of breath or they've injured themselves in Parliament um it could be a local state or federal issue might be about the hospital hospitals might be about a pothole it might be about Foreign Affairs they've got an issue that they have and you have to try and resolve it obviously in the emergency department that can happen a lot quicker and probably more efficiently um but on the government side they're still going to come to you with their problem and they're going to entrust you with that information to represent them to the executive of government the key decision makers so I think they talk to you the same it's just about different things I think yeah okay so you mentioned that climate change is something that's a big priority for you and for me too and it's definitely something I felt quite frustrated about from the Australian point of view how do you think um climate change is going to impact the health of Australians and Beyond yeah so like I said the climate change Act was the first bill I saw pass as a as a new MP um it's something that I campaigned on quite passionately um I like to think of myself as still a young person but we're probably out of the bracket now um you know as as a relatively young person it's something that's it's that's really to myself and my colleagues and my my friends and family um and also too I'm you know I'm getting married soon and our plan is to to have a family and that's something that obviously will impact my children and my children's children so I want to make sure that they have a future that's safe and secure from a climate standpoint um and as a government where we're investing quite significantly in renewable energy infrastructure so wind solar and pumped Hydro that's something that we it's science we know that works um we know it's clean energy uh and we know it will produce um cheaper power bills and more efficient electricity um and in terms of you know the health impacts of climate change it's it's quite the Spectrum it's not just just one thing I mean you know one thing that um probably gets left out of the medical conversation with climate change is with increasing natural disasters with fires with floods um extreme weather events you're going to have increased trauma and with increased trauma both psychological and physical trauma I mean if you're if you've got trees falling down and they're falling on people's legs you've got fractures or if you've got um flooding you've got increased risk of drowning if you've got fires you've got Burns and smoke inhalation you've got those that side of thing you've also got the significant psychological and mental health trauma that comes from losing a home in a fire um losing a car or a loved one in a flood or whatever it might be um so there's that aspect of climate change and then also too there's the effects on on the systemic health of a person if the temperature is is warmer if if if it's hotter for longer periods of time um potentially people drinking less water we've got hypothermic patients often more dehydrated in the elderly significant risk of Falls fall over hit your head maybe a intracerebral hemorrhage maybe a fall on the uh on the hips and a fractured neck of femur both of which carry a significantly High mortality rate and morbidity rate um you know increased risk of things like renal calculi kidney stones um uh so there's a whole gamut of issues um relating to climate change that can affect the human human health both mentally and physically and it's something I'm very passionate about um probably we could talk about this all day um I know we've got a limited amount of time but um and it's something that I make sure that you know when we're in caucus so when the government is caucusing and we're talking about issues what does that mean sorry what does that mean so um when the members of the government so in this case the government's currently led by Anthony albanesi and the labor party uh we get together and discuss our legislation our bills and our issues and the like um that's something that I bring there or I talk often to the health Minister about this or um even the minister for the environment and climate change because it's an important Point um you know that we that we as a government need to tackle and you know we we have we have a strategy now in place for climate change and health um which people can obviously contact my office it's it's quite the document um but you know it's it's important part of what we're trying to do and Achieve and it's something that I'm trying to make sure that's heard throughout our caucus and do you feel like we hear about lots of sort of um committees and documents being pulled together but do we have confidence that these things actually are taken forward and actually there's action taken on all of these yeah absolutely there is absolutely there is so um uh a good example is I'm on the health Sport and aged care committee um so for your for your listeners there's a couple of different types of committees so there's caucus committees which are purely within our government um and then there's also parliamentary committees so we'll refer to those ones and there's ones that are just the House of Representatives the green seats there's ones that are just the Senate the red seats and then there's ones that are combined and they're a joint standing committee so you know red and green seats um when you're in government you hold the chair of that position and the opposition holds the deputy chair so it makes it a bipartisan effort and then there's multiple members from all manner all sides of parliament so you know on the health committee we have a lot of doctors um but you know we've got we've got labor we've got liberal uh we've got independent we've got a few of the teals in there as well um the first inquiry we did was into recurrent Co and long Co and you know that led to to Mark Butler the health Ministry and the like you know put significant support behind that um we're just we're just finalizing a report at the moment into um type one type two and gestational diabetes that will be handed down to the health Minister soon so those reports make a series of recommendations and then that informs government policy and also funding so um I I can understand people's frustration that when these things are pulled together you know they don't they don't get listened to or they get sheld and sometimes they do but you know more often than not they do get acted upon and I think as well it very much informs the the parliamentarian at the Committee hearing so um you know I'm a health professional I see people with diabetes all the time but the aspect of diabetes that I see is the type one diabetic who comes in with dka or HHS or potentially the you know the very profoundly hypoglycemic patient or um some form of endocrinopathy where as in the community with a GP it's a very different you know it's it's there's very different Focus there so I get to hear that side of things I get to hear from relatively well patients at that cuz the patients I are they're not very well when they seeb um so it really informs how we think and it informs how we then make representations to Executive government so you touched briefly on covid-19 and obviously that had a pro profound um impact on Australians and Australia basically suddenly felt very far away obviously I'm from Northern Ireland and felt very far away from my family um and I think there's obviously there's continues to be sort of out from covid-19 and also lots of learnings hopefully um what do you think would happen if there were to be another pandemic like what lessons have we learned and what do you think we might do differently next time yeah sure so the pandemic I mean the pandemic triggered me to run run for Parliament so it had a it had a profound impact on my life um but it also had a profound impact on you know many people right across right across the world um Australia through geographical isol um was quite fortunate in that regard um also too we have some of the best Healthcare I believe have some of the best Healthcare Professionals in the world um from primary care all the way to intensive care and the like that was one of the reasons why recurrent covid infections and long Co was the first Health inquiry that we held as a government um because it was something that was still front of mind um for people in the community something that was obviously still front of mine for both the government and the opposition um that you know people were still suffering from the mental and physical effects um of of covid-19 um and the like so there was that aspect um I think one of the really important things was which was an election commitment of ours but also too it's it's you know it's starting the process of getting that up and running now is um the establishment of an Australian Center for Disease Control um so for your listeners um Australia doesn't currently have a Center for Disease Control like the United States there isn't a national body that organizes and coordinates um that Health effort and that that that preventative health effort particularly with vaccines and the like so that's something that we're establishing at the moment um it'll be in it'll have to be in concert with the with the states and territories I know that's a common line politicians say but that's that's part and parcel of our Federation so you know we have New South Wales Health we have wa Health we need to make sure that they're all on board and and that way that'll run smoothly but I think making sure that we have that National coordinated effort from a single Center like the center for Disease Control is important um and you know I've been part of multiple different um public forums and the like that go through hypothetical scenarios if a pandemic or if there was a pandemic and a conflict were to break out what would be the case what would be happening and how would how would the government respond so it's front of Mind in the government um there's the Center for Disease Control um and also to with it being front of mind um at least in the government when we formulate things like our NA national Poli polic Forum uh a national policy platform um it's integrated into that so what that means is um and this is Labor's example um is when before we go to an election we uh go through a list of what we believe should be our platform for the next election and that's debated amongst the party and amongst the factions and the like and then we hold a big conference we held one in Brisbane and it's televised for all to see so for all the political nerds out there please get involved it's it's quite the viewing so maybe maybe crack a beer or um open a packet of chips um and and you know that that that's broadcasted for 3 days in a public manner so that people can see what we're doing and you know part of that was was involved in that so that's that's something that that's important to me um the other the other parties do the same process um there's isn't publicly televised but that's just how I just I only know how our side works on that regard um but yeah it's something that our government you know is really focused on I know I'm focused on it and I won't let anyone forget and as a GP I've definitely seen over the last so I've been in Australia for 11 years and I've always been uh really grateful that for example come winter time high motivated people have been previously to come and get their influenza vaccinations um I definitely feel though over the last couple of years there seems to be a little bit of vaccination fatigue creeping in um and then certainly uh we've seen a lot of infection in the last couple of months we've seen a lot of respiratory tract a lot of micoplasma pneumonia like we're definitely seeing a lot of people who are unwell bit of Co again a and a lot of influenza do you think government are considering the fact that maybe people have got a little bit fatigued by the whole vaccination thing and we need to maybe reboot that in some way to get people motivated again yeah sure I I suppose absolutely there's some um uh some vaccine fatigue after Co um I think you know Co like I said before had a huge impact on people's um mental and social well-being which includes you know the ability to go and book to go and get a vaccine um because it was something that we all had to do fairly frequently um you know and you're right there is a very much an increase in respiratory pathogens that are running around at the moment um I know just from the last couple of days being an emergency um significant numbers of influenza A microplasma micoplasma pneumonia as you said um RSV as well and and CO's up ticking and they've all started earlier than they normally would um so that's something that's you know something that I'm seeing on the ground um it's definitely vaccinations is definitely something front of mind um for the government I know that we've expanded our um shingles vaccine um to more people um and increased supply of that but a lot of funding behind that as well um and you know it's something that we you know as as parliamentarians and as public figures we promote that so you know through our social media channels through our media channels um through ad campaigns and the like we we we we talk about the benefits of vaccination and vaccination saves lives it does um you could see a marked difference in Co when vaccinations came in with severity of disease um coming through the doors of emergency you saw that overseas in the States you saw it in places like Italy you saw it in places like the UK when vaccination came in people's lives were changed for the better um and the same can be said for the for the influenza vaccination as well and the shingles vaccine um so you you know you'll see me with my sleeve rolled up getting the getting the vaccine in the arm many of my colleagues do the same across the political Spectrum which is which is outstanding um and you know you'll see ad campaigns and the like which is which are running so um I know that the parliament is very concerned about vaccinations in that we want them to continue there's a lot of benefit to vaccines um and we just need to make sure that we take the public with us absolutely and I think the other thing that I find quite frustrating is there continues to be a lot of misinformation out there and a lot of uh people getting misinformation spread is is there any kind of sort of policy towards that or working towards getting better information out that people might trust a bit more so it's making sure that people and this is part of trusting your local representative local representatives and institutions and making sure that there is an established trust with that um and also too with their healthcare providers so that you know when people and people come to my office all the time with they have either heard miss or disinformation with regards to vaccines um and I hear it too in the hospital as well when people say oh I'm not getting the vaccine for XY z um and a lot of the time it is just uh it's a moment of education for that person to say well actually no that's not the case and this is why you can't shut down someone and say no you're wrong is the vaccine go take it it's you have to say well this is this is incorrect because of this and this is why this vaccine is going to help so it's making sure that people can come to me either as a doctor or a or a member of parliament as a trusted source of information and people do and people do just to change topic a little bit I'm very passionate about per menopause and menopause I'm very frustrated of the continued uh misinformation I suppose that still exists after the Whi study from 20 years ago and the reality is that lots of our colleagues in all Medical Specialties still have had minimal training in menopause even though there are impacts so whether you're an opthalmologist seeing someone with dry eyes or a rheumatologist seeing someone with joint pain or you know any any you know cardiologist seeing someone with palpitations they could all be par menopause and menopause um what are you guys doing about um sort of addressing that and and maybe the other thing I would say is that um it's very expensive hormone replacement therapy yes it's very very expensive for patients so if I have someone who's going to be on estrogen progesterone and maybe testosterone um and maybe vaginal estrogen as well like that's a lot of prescription charges and a lot of those items aren't on the PBS which is a bit of a frustration of mine given that for example Viagra is on it for men um is that something that the government's going to look towards cuz the reality is that 51% of the population if they live long enough is going to go through the menopause what are we going to do to address that sure um and I just I look back at my own medical training at University and even as in that prevocational time as an intern and Resident the training surrounding Women's Health but in particular menopause and param menopause is is very very very minimal um extremely minimal and to your point you wereing talking about the rheumatologist with dry eyes or the cardiologist with recurrent chest pain or palpitations or whatever it might be it it became very siloed and almost just obliterated it I I that's that's my opinion there um there's been a few things that have been done so start at the local level and then progress more federally so one thing that um one one being really passionate about women's health but also to trying to see and trying to listen to local people about their issues in this in this space B so we actually held a women's health Forum um at the Ocean Beach Surf Club um this is about 12 months ago maybe a bit over 12 months ago now um where we had we had roughly over 200 people I think turn up to this event um and the way that it was structured was we had assistant Minister Jed Carney who is the minister for Women's Health uh we had Dr colet huran who's a local GP and yeah no K yep um amazing amazing GP and Community Advocate um she was there and uh we also had assistant Minister Emma McBride um so she focuses on Regional rural Health but also on mental health and suicide prevention um and then there was myself so uh we had that panel there and the idea behind that was we spoke about what we're doing as a government uh but obviously no matter what portfolio is but in particular in women's health um we want to make sure that we're hearing from people you know on the ground who are actually experiencing these issues and how can we best then take that to form ulate policy and change funding models um so I just you know if I can IND for on Indulgence for a moment just really thank you know all the all the women that attended that forum and you know shared their quite personal stories and and information um it was very very brave what they did and it really gave um it really gave myself but also to the other ministers um some insight into into what's going on on the ground you know Jed Carney the assistant Minister um she's created the the National Women's Health advisory Council uh which all of this information feeds into um because it's her it's her mission to break down medical misogyny we find that when a when a man presents with a certain issue it's treated it's it's it's it's done and it's completed whereas if a if a woman presents with a particular issue then it's sort of maybe cast aside or not taken seriously enough and that's something that Minister Carney is extremely passionate about um and my plan is to hold in the future more of these Women's Health forums um that one was held in the middle of the day during the I'd like to probably hold them maybe on a weekend or at night um when other working when working women can attend them and um and and also focus on other topics um but it was a good sort of a good sort of test there and you know it was really well attended um so that was that and also to it also informed Emma McBride's portfolio you know there are issues for women accessing services in Metropolitan and Suburban areas but in particular that's exacerbated in those Regional Rural and remote communities um so that was very much em I was very thankful for that um and then also too there's the mental health component as well and the psychological aspect and and access to those services so that was the the local level back to the the teaching aspect you're right um doctors don't receive nearly enough training in this area um is it merar was that the is that the GP book I think that we oh yeah merar yeah the the GP book we used to use as a as a medical student um there was one chapter in that book and it was 800 pages I think so um it definitely needs more than one chapter's worth of attention absolutely I think of it's all about periods and hot flushes and not much else yes that's right um so so one of the things that we've done recently is um change funding models and pump money into increasing uh CPD education programs for doctors uh for general practice but also doctors more broadly um through various platforms to make sure that they can be educated about what menopause is uh what are the what are the symptoms how can we treat it and how best to link women into the services they need when they need them um so that's one aspect on the training side of things um there's also uh you know we're talking before this started the the Senate inquiry into menopause and per menopause and you know this is one of those times where you know this will inform not only the parliamentarians doing that committee um but it'll also then that report will then be handed down to the minister that's responsible for that to change funding models so um it's good that we've got Jed carne at the helm of this um she's a good nurse and and an even better assistant Minister who's really passionate but you know the Whole Health caucus is passionate about this so um you know if people want more information and more detail about what we're doing in that space please contact my office um we have a a really thick information sheet on it that we can give to people um but also to watch this space cuz it's an evolving space and and now it's in the spotlight as it as it absolutely should be so so watch this space hopefully uh we might find some support around the cost of replacement there that was the other thing you mentioned yep so S I was going through all the things in my mind I'm still a baby politician remember I asked too many questions sorry yeah so and that's another thing actually so when we door knock through the electorate so I've been I've made a big commitment to not only door knock around election Cycles um and you actually hear more real issues when you do it in between elections um and one of those things has been access to uh medications um so one of the big things that I make sure that I do is if I knock on door and say hey hormone replacement therapy is really expensive it's really contributing to not only cost of living pressures but I also need this medication to alleviate the symptoms of of menopause and param menopause um I make sure that we provide immediate representations to the health Minister and to the minister for Women's Health as well to make sure that you know they're reading that correspondence and seeing that that pressure and stress on the ground so it's something I'll continue to advocate for in our caucus amazing okay I think I'm nearly finished my grilling it's okay it's okay this is good this is good um so are there any um projects or um things that you're working on that you'd like to share with us in terms of policies or health Direction yeah sure um locally and then yeah we can go Everyone likes to hear about the central I like to hear about the Central Coast I'm a bit biased though um so one of the big things that we found cuz our we haven't had a local government now for about 10 years I think it's been so there hasn't been a for those listening outside the Central Coast we haven't had a local Council now for just a bit under a decade um it's been in what's called Administration um so they obviously have to work within a very narrow scope um and require significant assistance so uh we've been able to put a lot of funding into road maintenance and Road renewal um anyone that drives on the roads here it's very precarious sometimes um with the road damage so we've been able to put significant multiple millions of dollars of funding into that and we're starting to see the results of that now roads are smoother to drive on it's very nice um and also too it's you know it's good people aren't damaging tires and and it's safer for people to walk around so road infrastructure has been huge um You probably drove through aoka drive just here now I live in avoka it's yeah so you know what I'm talking about um it's you know it's a pinch Point um so we're we're funding the um the expansion of that so the widening of that so that's already started the plan works and traffic surveys are being completed want to have a little foot path a little foot path well this is something we need to talk to the state government about a typical politician answer um but no so the it involves foot pods and cycleways and the like so that that's part of that that that build the the survey the trffic surveys have already been completed to look at the volume and what part to start first and the next the next bit that's just been completed is surveying where all the utilities are cuz if we just cut through them then everyone loses power sewer and water and then no one's happy um so then dig those up uh once we find out where they are um because there's some that you know we still don't know where they are with um NBN cables and sewer and the like so and then the road will be then the road will be um like the actual Road widening itself will be started so that that's really exciting and that'll link into the to the jewel to the Dual carriageway which is nice um and then my next goal after that but you know I might not even be around then is the is Dunlop Hill itself that we'll come to that later um and then in regards to health health Direction something that I'm really passionate about um and I won't get political on this podcast although I am a politician um you know it's something that I felt hasn't been hasn't had enough attention for many years across multiple governments of either persuasion you know there was the tripling of the bul billing incentive um there was some other things in place there while you know there are practices that have welcomed this and it is providing some assistance there's obviously more we can do there um there's some recent announcements from the state government with regards to bulk billing and GP payroll tax um which has been been very welcomed on the Central Coast from from what I'm hearing um there's the changes to the medication affordability in the eth uh Community Pharmacy agreement that was signed recently so making medications cheaper and more affordable they're more National level things um we've had increases in bulk billing across the central coast region now so there was in the last section that was measured over 10,000 bulk build GP visits which is good so that's up 2.7% I think which was which was which was good um and then there's also the um the establishment of our Medicare urgent care clinics as well so Emma McBride's one in the north has seen over 7,000 patients who were too sick for the GP and not sick enough for the Emergency Department our one down on the peninsula seen over 5,000 patients now since it's been opened um my dad being one of them um actually fun fact about that and he's giv me permission to share this story um covering a bird cage with a blanket um with a brick weighing the blanket down so I didn't blow away and he pulled the blanket off and the the brick hit him on the foot um on the top of the foot you know dorsal foot injury uh you know midfoot tenderness on squeeze like he come see it I haven't been gifted x-ray vision yet um so I can't you know the the the the aut Foot rules couldn't determine whether it was a fracture or not he and I I didn't go in with him I you know I stayed separate um he went into the Urgent Care Center he saw a doctor got an x-ray saw a nurse as well it wasn't fractured just for if anyone was wondering um was in fractur he was in and out in under 50 minutes uh whereas if he was in the emergency department waiting for that he would have been there hours um so that's you know that's a good example and there's been countless examples where people have gone to these clinics and have seen a benefit um and it's all about increasing access across the board for for health care you know making sure that GPS are seeing complex chronic conditions and preventative medicine in the community um it's making sure that we have a middle ground between emergency and Urgent Care like they do right across the World um and then also to making sure our emergency departments are supported so that was a very long-winded answer um but we are doing a lot in health and it's something I'm quite passionate about okay thank you so final question is if you were able to tell your 20-year-old self something what would you tell him probably don't drink so much coffee um no what would I tell my 20-year-old self we had a gastroenterologist um when I was at Uni um and a fantastic really funny guy um but he I remember in our first day of lectures um Dr vasy was his name actually now I remember it uh in our very first day of lectures in our first year he he carries around in his card uh in his wallet a laminated card of a rose um and it's you know his his idea was you know take time to stop and smell the roses they just go hell for leather um you know I think you know when you study medicine that's all you do it's very time it's life consuming basically um and then when you get into prevocational training and then training um you know it's it's it's your life and it's all encompassing so you I would tell myself to very much take time to stop and smell the roses um and look around and take in what's happening and you know how how you're you're interacting with the world and the people around you um you know sorry like these you know another story um I I led a delegation to the United Nations in New York um which and you know sitting in the the General Assembly Hall with the little Australia uh lit upside in front of me I'm sitting there ready to give the national statement on behalf of the government um about indigenous health and you know just sitting there going you know boy from your minor never thought that I'd be doing this job in my wildest dreams you know about to deliver something on behalf of 26 million people um at that moment I sort of just sat back and went that's one that's pretty cool um but also too it's it's an immense privilege and very you know you're you know you're you're representing your country at that point so um yes I would give myself that laminated Rose and go take time to smell the roses and so what's next we're getting married yes we're getting married Late July um winter cold uh so that's very exciting um my partner Chie and I have been together for for a long time now so um was probably about time um she's a amazing woman she's a speech pathologist um does a lot of work with with um Pediatrics and and disability uh and augmentative communication like eyaz and the like um you know incredibly intelligent woman um I'm you know she uh she very much looks after me which is excellent um but she um you know so we're getting married in in July which is excellent and actually interestingly our dads were paramedics on the coast together um they they used to own a shop over at long Jetty and um it's very much a Central Coast story um you know so went to school together still working in Ed yes still working in emergency so I transitioned from um being a CMO to a to an to a trainee in emergency um and I do two to three shifts a week um at night or in the evening normally when people don't want to talk to me anyway um no one wants me ringing them at 3:00 in the morning um and it's been really good um you know I I continue to practice and uh I think nothing bursts the camber bubble quite like a New South Wales emergency department um it keeps me I think grounded and I can see what those issues are on the ground and I also love practicing medicine um it's and you know it's you you don't just do it for a couple of years and then and then move on it's something that you do for the rest of your life so we're hoping that we're going to do a parallel career with medicine and politics are we we uh we when the next elections call we'll give it a red hot crack um but I'll but I'll always be a doctor always be a doctor thank you so much I really love talking to you today oh thank you cheers I think you'll agree we've had some incredible ible guests on the podcast already and today's was no exception I think there is so many nuggets of information I'd love to get out there so if you know someone who would benefit from the podcast please share it that way more people can learn all about themselves remember this podcast is all about you this podcast and any information advice opinions or statements within it do not constitute Medical Healthcare or other professional advice information is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only if you have any health concerns always consult your doctor [Music]