Calen Needs A Doctor

By Amanda Wright

The rural health crisis is knocking on our back door, with residents in rural areas throughout the Mackay region lacking basic medical care due to having no doctor nearby.

A concerned resident from the small town of Calen contacted Mackay Life, worried for the welfare of their neighbours, who have been putting off urgent medical care due to the amount of time and cost for them to see a doctor in Mackay.

Calen is roughly halfway between Mackay and Proserpine at around 61 km to each destination. The town may be small, but it has much to offer, with a corner store, news agent, butcher, post office, pub, auto mechanic, bowls club and more, not to mention essential services such as a school, and ambulance and police. But no doctor.

The surrounding towns of Pindi Pindi, St Helens Beach, Mt Ossa, Yalboroo, Cameron’s Pocket and more make up a substantial outlying community, who all face the same medical challenges.

Resident Lyn Ellen says the regular on-going medical attention and check-ups which locals are putting off could turn deadly.

“The stories I hear at the bowls club, pub or local store are quite frightening,” Lyn said.

“Because these are salt of the earth rural people, they have a casual ‘she’ll be right’ attitude, especially when it takes so long to get a simple check up.

“A lovely chap I met had cut his arm on the farm. I could see the wound really needed stitches and was at risk of infection, but he just bandaged it up to get back to work on the farm. ‘Too long to get to the doctor’ he told me.

“A young mother I saw at the school, her baby had a nasty cough which sounded like croup. She said she would Google it and hope for the best because she couldn’t afford to go to Mackay with her other two children.

“A woman I know hurt her leg in a fall. She doesn’t have a car so would have to rely on her daughter in Mackay to go to Calen to pick her up, to be seen in Mackay. It’s a 240 km round trip that neither the daughter or mother could afford, so she took Panadol as she didn’t want to be a burden on her family.”

Lyn said that these incidents are common.

“They just accept that it is what it is. If people are putting off getting checked for things like cuts, falls and sickness, then what’s the likelihood they are getting regular pap smears, bowel cancer checks or other general check-ups?

“We’re right on the Bruce Highway, Calen NEEDS a doctor.”

‘Calen Needs A Doctor’ will continue in next week’s edition of Mackay Life as the investigation continues.

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