Cancer Outpatients Appeal president Dee Carrington asked Shadow Health and Aging Minister Peter Dutton whether his party could fund a palliative care complex to complement Milton Hospital’s Community Cancer Care Centre if elected to government.

She said the community could raise $500,000 if he could commit $1.5 million.

Mr Dutton told the meeting of about 100 people that, while he could not make a financial commitment, he would be “happy to look at the proposal to get the best possible outcome for local patients”.

Mrs Carrington said dying patients and their families had to travel to the nearest palliative care centre in Berry, and with an older population and a higher than average cancer rate, Milton-Ulladulla was desperate for its own facility.

Milton dentist Peter Magnus, a representative of the Australian Dental Association, asked Mr Dutton if his party would stop importing dentists from overseas under the 457 Australian work visa program.

He said there was an “oversupply of dentists”, and new dentists coming out of Australian universities could not find work.

Mr Dutton said he was aware of the dental association’s concerns and told the meeting he was “committed to reviewing the plan if elected”.

Milton doctor Brett Thomson raised the issue of bulk billing and attracting doctors to regional areas.

He said local medical centres were working hard to bring doctors to the area, with training and intern programs, but added the federal government needed to “work on keeping general practices viable” by not taxing grants and keeping the Medicare rebate in line with the rising costs of practice.

Mr Dutton said he would like to “rebuild general practice and provide support for regional doctors”.

“I am aware that general practice has been the poor cousin of specialists for a long time,” he added.

Resident Martin Bongiorno was disappointed with the forum which he said missed the mark and did not address public access to affordable health care.

“I hoped for a more direct and spirited interrogation of the issues than was the case, given the seriousness and urgency of the issues facing people in the local area,” he said.

“What I found deeply troubling, from the perspective of both a patient, taxpayer and citizen, was that both Peter Dutton and Brett Thomson expressed the view that we can't afford to meet the needs of everyone with a health budget that is heavily in debt. 

“There is simply no understanding, awareness or willingness to acknowledge these difficulties for low income people. 

“In a wealthy country such as ours, the position that we can't afford to meet the needs of the vulnerable in the community should be condemned.”

The forum was hosted by Liberal candidate for Gilmore Anne Sudmalis who said the Coalition had “no intention of automatically eliminating Medicare Locals”.

“Their work is to be reviewed and where they are functioning well, as is happening so far in the Shoalhaven, they are likely to be retained,” she added.

Mrs Sudmalis said the ratio of doctors in regional areas “does not give our local doctors much of a chance to provide full time bulk billing facilities”.

“Even though some of them are doing a wonderful job, and many patients do actually receive bulk billing accounts, this ratio needs a good review in light of our demographics and regional difficulties.

“I have been discussing this issue at length and will be working very hard with my state colleagues in order to address this,” she said.

Outside the meeting, Labor candidate for Gilmore Neil Reilly said he “did not feel welcome” inside the centre, but added that he was “aware of the health problems facing the region”.

He said a GP super clinic was “needed in Ulladulla”.

“We have one in Shellharbour, one is coming to Nowra at the end of this year and the third one needs to be right here,” he said.

“Not only would it provide access to bulkbilling doctors, but it could provide a host of other services like blood collection, scans and preventative services.

“It would be a one-stop shop.”