REINSTATE DR STUART REECE IMMEDIATELY!
REINSTATE DR STUART REECE IMMEDIATELY!
The issue
We, the patients of Dr Reece call on our State and Federal governments to insist that AHPRA do not arbitrarily and ridiculously act to shut down one of our communities finest doctors.
SAVE DR REECE, SIGN THIS PETITION AND FORWARD TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. THANK YOU.
On the 21st December 2022, three days before Christmas, Dr Stuart Reece and his surgery, South City Family Medical Centre, were shut down effective immediately by the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Authority (AHPRA) (You can read their conditions on his practice here: https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Registration/Registers-of-Practitioners.aspx Some will say he wasn’t shut down, he has rather been asked to refine his practice and to employ another doctor. For all intents and purposes Dr Reece has been shut down. His practice is being deliberately limited and should he open accepting these conditions he will not be able to see 75% of his patients – they would reduce his workload by that much and insist he employs another doctor – a doctor no-one is aware of the existence or availability of. They have shut him down. He cannot meet these ridiculous expectations that clearly sabotage community healthcare outcomes.
AHPRA’s reasoning in part, is because of the amount of patients being seen per hour being bulk billed. Under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, it is said that: “A Practitioner must NOT exceed four (4) patient consultations in any one hour (60 minutes)”.
It is common knowledge to state that some patients will require longer consultations and others much less. It is unreasonable for AHPRA to expect or dictate that a doctor must limit the amount of patients they can consult with in any one hour simply because of some arbitrary rule that states consultations should take 15 minutes at least in EVERY CASE.
AHPRA is also advising that Dr Reece must have another Doctor with him for consultations into the future to oversee his work to their satisfaction. This requirement is an impossibility. AHPRA and Dr Reece both know that this doctor does not exist. There is not a ‘spare doctor’ lying around that is available for this.
Effectively, Dr Reece is being told to see a lot less patients and to employ another Doctor to oversee and achieve this, His existing work-load would be reduced by at least seventy five percent and a lot of patients who have always been cared for well by Dr Reece and his practice, will miss out.
THIS IS NOT ABOUT PATIENT CARE OR BETTER HEALTH OUTCOMES. THIS APPEARS TO BE ABOUT CONTROL OF THE TYPE OF SERVICES OFFERED TO PATIENTS WHO NEED BULK BILLED DOCTORS.
AND THIS DOES SHUT DR REECE DOWN. WE WANT OUR DOCTOR BACK. WE WANT HIM BACK RIGHT NOW.
Dr Reece caters to many of the poorest/disadvantaged and most vulnerable people within our community and he caters to them well. We are already hearing reports of patients who aren’t able to see Dr Reece being turned away from other clinics. They don’t have room or inclination to care for the 1100 patients that stand to be displaced. Shutting down a local community GP clinic with a specialty in addiction management is not a small thing, and should not be done arbitrarily with impossible conditions to justify it. How can AHPRA justify leaving these patients without care? And at the same time act as though they serve the interests of the public? They can’t.
Those battling drug addictions - prison parolees/inmates, members of our communities: whose plan it is to reintegrate successfully back into society/ or to maintain/regain healthy function, begin with seeing Dr Reece for addiction treatment. These will have no-one to prescribe them the relief they require upon their release. No one to assist with an addiction management plan will be available on the day of their release. These will be left behind. There are prisoners right now worried about what they will do if Dr Reece cannot see them, and with what AHPRA is doing he will not be able to. This entire ordeal appears to have nothing to do with patient care or public health or even with maintaining a healthy civil society.
People who see Dr Reece as their General Practitioner, the many without addiction problems, who have come to him and stayed with him across the thirty plus years of his practice, are missing out just as much. These are everyday people, who face a myriad of health concerns, who know him and trust him with their healthcare and treatment, because they know, he has their best interests at heart. Many have said he is the best doctor they have ever come across.
IDEA/SUGGESTION FOR AHPRA:
- Perhaps under the Health Practitioner Regulation Law, AHPRA should introduce and or allow for five (5) minute consultations for things like a simple prescription or simply logging details, following up from a previous appointment.
Nobody can go or be expected to go without their treatment because of a LAW that says only 4 people can be seen to in any one hour. Especially not those who are patients of Dr Reece. If that be the case then that means that these people are at high risk of relapsing back into the use of illicit drugs, overdose and even worse DEATH.
This also causes grave concerns for our wider community as the fallout of this could put our community at risk of increased crime, which puts lives and possessions in danger - not to mention the suffering of the offender as they know for sure: there was a better way. Such potential offenders are not at all placated with the latest announcement by the Queensland Police Service that crime prevention is no longer their primary focus, rather this is to prosecute crimes that have been committed. Is AHPRA deliberately helping the Queensland government refill its prisons? This is very disturbing.
Dr Reece is determined to continue saving lives. So many of his patients have already come forward with AMAZING testimonies. We are not happy to hear about this, we feel cheated, we feel let down and WE WANT OUR DOCTOR BACK. Public health officials everywhere should be celebrating the likes of Dr Reece, not working to shut him down and leave people without hope suffering. This isn’t okay. Please reinstate Dr Reece immediately.
What will patients do now?
- Where can we access a doctor who will provide the necessary treatments?
- Where can we find a doctor that will bulk bill in our local area? One that isn’t overrun with patients already and who we can trust?
- What happens if this other facility expects payment of hundreds of dollars for a consultation, and treatment when patients don’t have that money?
- Without other doctors readily accessible who provide the same specialist treatments as Dr Reece, and without medication/s some people will not cope. They will more than likely resort back to illicit drugs, ill health and commit crimes to satiate their addictions, and then, /or worse, overdose and/or DIE.
These are not all but are some of the many questions running through the minds of Dr Reece’s now very worried patients.
It is so disheartening and disturbing to have to process what has unfolded here.
Now you might ask yourself, ‘why doesn’t Dr Reece just practice under these restrictions as set out’? It is because if he were to follow these directions his practice would be limited dramatically by the immediate reduction of the number of patients he is able to see daily, patients who NEED to receive their treatment. Plus, as the second direction is to appoint another doctor to supervise him, when there is not another doctor available, this ensures even if he could dramatically reduce his patient load (which is ridiculous and unreasonable) he still wouldn’t satisfy the AHPRA’s demands. These directions ensure that Dr Reece cannot practice. This is not okay. This is something to be reasonably upset about.
Dr Reece isn’t just an ‘addiction doctor’ he is also a very good general practitioner having seen some patients for over 30 years. These people have now lost their GP, the very GP they so badly need and confidently rely on. This simply is not fair and we ALL need your support to help make a change against these ridiculously impossible and arbitrary limitations and restrictions.
There are already reports of people trying to find another bulk billing doctor who are being turned away by other local surgeries who are too busy and not accepting new patients, these doctors are also not addiction specialists and do not have Dr Reece’s expertise and knowledge of their personal health care needs. Bulk billing practice is disappearing. There is nothing to be celebrated here. AHPRA is indirectly targeting our community and it seems all it is doing is harming us.
REINSTATE DR REECE NOW. Please sign this petition and add your testimonial and support. Please remove all restrictions to Dr Reece’s practice and allow him to continue with the ongoing and new care of the 1100 plus patients that Dr Reece sees.
WHY IS PUBLIC HEALTH ON SUCH A TIGHT BUDGET?? Especially as a large percentage of our community rely on bulk billing practice.
Instead of chasing after/shutting down our bulk billing and addiction doctors why aren’t AHPRA or the health minister focusing their efforts and attention into fixing our public health system and making healthcare more accessible and affordable and making reasonable alterations to the National Law to allow for shorter consultation times? For simple prescription renewals or post procedure check-ups, etc. there is often no need for more than five minutes. Some consultations don’t run for fifteen minutes, why insist they do? Especially where realistically this means someone else who really wants to see a doctor today, might actually get to see one.
IT IS NOT ONLY DR REECE AHPRA ARE GOING AFTER:
AHPRA haven’t just gone after Dr Reece but have recently shut down another addiction doctor, and other bulk billing practices. Not only in QLD but in VICTORIA as well. This is what we know of, we expect this is occurring in other States and Territories as well and that we are simply not aware of these as yet.
Before you say that AHPRA is a National Regulator and that this has nothing to do with the state government, it’s been said that, AHPRA was allegedly constituted in the unicameral parliament of Queensland — which is why another addiction doctor who was shut down by AHPRA only a few months ago, is challenging their constitutional right/validity to act outside the jurisdiction that formed them — Federally. This is being challenged on the 23 March 2023 by another Queensland Addiction Specialist Doctor that was shut down three months ago.
Absolutely no care or thought is being given to the welfare of our communities and to the people that make them up. It is a DISGRACE.
This petition is 100% patient led.
WE WANT OUR DOCTOR BACK!
WE WANT IMMEDIATE REINSTATEMENT OF DR REECE AND THE SOUTHCITY FAMILY MEDICAL CENTRE.
WE ARE CALLING ON STATE AND FEDERAL HEALTH MINISTERS TO ACT IMMEDIATELY TO REINSTATE DR REECE AND HIS CLINIC SERVICES FOR PUBLIC HEALTH AND PATIENT WELL-BEING AND FOR CIVIL SOCIETY.
WE WANT WHAT IS RIGHT, FAIR AND REASONABLE – HEALTHCARE FOR ALL.
WE NEED OUR DOCTOR AND HIS KNOWLEDGE OF US AND OUR TREATMENTS!
WE DO NOT DESERVE TO BECOME EVEN MORE VULNERABLE AND PUT AT RISK OF DIMINISHED PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH BECAUSE OF THE AMOUNT OF CONSULTATIONS BEING BULK BILLED IN ANY ONE HOUR!!! DR REECE DOES NOT NEED AN ADDICTION SPECIALIST DOCTOR TO SUPERVISE HIS EVERY MOVE. HE IS CONSIDERED AN EXPERT IN THIS BY MANY IN THE ADDICTION AREA OF SPECIALTY.
WE ARE CALLING ON STATE AND GOVERNMENT POLITICIANS TO ASSIST US TO THIS END:
ANTHONY ALBANESE, Prime Minister of Australia, Phone: (02) 6277 7111, Contact: through this website: https://www.pm.gov.au/contact-your-pm Twitter: @AlboMP, FB: https://www.facebook.com/AlboMP/
YVETTE D’ ATH (MP), Queensland Health Minister, Phone: (07) 3448 7100, Email: health@ministerial.qld.gov.au, Twitter: @YvetteDAth, FB: https://www.facebook.com/yvetteforredcliffe/
MARK BUTLER, Australian Minister for Health and Aged Care, Phone: (02) 6277 7111, Email: minister.butler@health.gov.au, Mark.Butler.MP@aph.gov.au, Twitter: @mark_butler, FB: https://www.facebook.com/MarkButlerMP/
Annastacia Palaszczuk, Premier of Queensland, Phone: (07) 3719 7000, Email: thepremier@premiers.qld.gov.au, Twitter: @AnnastaciaMP, FB: https://www.facebook.com/annastaciamp/
DR REECE IS THE BEST DOCTOR MANY OF US HAVE EVER MET OR HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF BEING IN THE CARE OF. IF YOU DOUBT THIS AHPRA, WE DOUBT YOU. REINSTATE DR REECE IMMEDIATELY TO OPERATE AS HE WAS TO SUCH EXCEPTIONAL STANDARDS OF COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE. THANK YOU.
___________________________
We’d love to see these hashtags in use if you’re posting about this – thank you.
#SaveDrReece #ReinstateDrReeceNOW #SaveBulkBilling #MedicareForAll #HealthCareForAll #PeopleMatter #DrReeceSavesLives
PLEASE share on your social media platforms and use the above hashtag’s, or post your testimonial on our Facebook Page called: LETS SAVE DR REECE AND THE LARGE COMMUNITY OF PEOPLE HE SUPPORTS — https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089191320250&mibextid=LQQJ4d
- or by anonymously sending us a private message to our Facebook page (above) which can then be published by one of our administrators.
It takes 1 minute of your time to sign this petition and a further 5 seconds to share it with your social networks, that is all that we are asking of you and, these simple acts, could potentially lead to a major difference being made in this matter.
THANK YOU for your support! Thank you.
This petition was put together and prepared by, Jaimie and Imogen. If you would like to contact us, you can do so here:
savedrreece@gmail.com & @Twtrrr.
650
The issue
We, the patients of Dr Reece call on our State and Federal governments to insist that AHPRA do not arbitrarily and ridiculously act to shut down one of our communities finest doctors.
SAVE DR REECE, SIGN THIS PETITION AND FORWARD TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. THANK YOU.
On the 21st December 2022, three days before Christmas, Dr Stuart Reece and his surgery, South City Family Medical Centre, were shut down effective immediately by the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Authority (AHPRA) (You can read their conditions on his practice here: https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Registration/Registers-of-Practitioners.aspx Some will say he wasn’t shut down, he has rather been asked to refine his practice and to employ another doctor. For all intents and purposes Dr Reece has been shut down. His practice is being deliberately limited and should he open accepting these conditions he will not be able to see 75% of his patients – they would reduce his workload by that much and insist he employs another doctor – a doctor no-one is aware of the existence or availability of. They have shut him down. He cannot meet these ridiculous expectations that clearly sabotage community healthcare outcomes.
AHPRA’s reasoning in part, is because of the amount of patients being seen per hour being bulk billed. Under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, it is said that: “A Practitioner must NOT exceed four (4) patient consultations in any one hour (60 minutes)”.
It is common knowledge to state that some patients will require longer consultations and others much less. It is unreasonable for AHPRA to expect or dictate that a doctor must limit the amount of patients they can consult with in any one hour simply because of some arbitrary rule that states consultations should take 15 minutes at least in EVERY CASE.
AHPRA is also advising that Dr Reece must have another Doctor with him for consultations into the future to oversee his work to their satisfaction. This requirement is an impossibility. AHPRA and Dr Reece both know that this doctor does not exist. There is not a ‘spare doctor’ lying around that is available for this.
Effectively, Dr Reece is being told to see a lot less patients and to employ another Doctor to oversee and achieve this, His existing work-load would be reduced by at least seventy five percent and a lot of patients who have always been cared for well by Dr Reece and his practice, will miss out.
THIS IS NOT ABOUT PATIENT CARE OR BETTER HEALTH OUTCOMES. THIS APPEARS TO BE ABOUT CONTROL OF THE TYPE OF SERVICES OFFERED TO PATIENTS WHO NEED BULK BILLED DOCTORS.
AND THIS DOES SHUT DR REECE DOWN. WE WANT OUR DOCTOR BACK. WE WANT HIM BACK RIGHT NOW.
Dr Reece caters to many of the poorest/disadvantaged and most vulnerable people within our community and he caters to them well. We are already hearing reports of patients who aren’t able to see Dr Reece being turned away from other clinics. They don’t have room or inclination to care for the 1100 patients that stand to be displaced. Shutting down a local community GP clinic with a specialty in addiction management is not a small thing, and should not be done arbitrarily with impossible conditions to justify it. How can AHPRA justify leaving these patients without care? And at the same time act as though they serve the interests of the public? They can’t.
Those battling drug addictions - prison parolees/inmates, members of our communities: whose plan it is to reintegrate successfully back into society/ or to maintain/regain healthy function, begin with seeing Dr Reece for addiction treatment. These will have no-one to prescribe them the relief they require upon their release. No one to assist with an addiction management plan will be available on the day of their release. These will be left behind. There are prisoners right now worried about what they will do if Dr Reece cannot see them, and with what AHPRA is doing he will not be able to. This entire ordeal appears to have nothing to do with patient care or public health or even with maintaining a healthy civil society.
People who see Dr Reece as their General Practitioner, the many without addiction problems, who have come to him and stayed with him across the thirty plus years of his practice, are missing out just as much. These are everyday people, who face a myriad of health concerns, who know him and trust him with their healthcare and treatment, because they know, he has their best interests at heart. Many have said he is the best doctor they have ever come across.
IDEA/SUGGESTION FOR AHPRA:
- Perhaps under the Health Practitioner Regulation Law, AHPRA should introduce and or allow for five (5) minute consultations for things like a simple prescription or simply logging details, following up from a previous appointment.
Nobody can go or be expected to go without their treatment because of a LAW that says only 4 people can be seen to in any one hour. Especially not those who are patients of Dr Reece. If that be the case then that means that these people are at high risk of relapsing back into the use of illicit drugs, overdose and even worse DEATH.
This also causes grave concerns for our wider community as the fallout of this could put our community at risk of increased crime, which puts lives and possessions in danger - not to mention the suffering of the offender as they know for sure: there was a better way. Such potential offenders are not at all placated with the latest announcement by the Queensland Police Service that crime prevention is no longer their primary focus, rather this is to prosecute crimes that have been committed. Is AHPRA deliberately helping the Queensland government refill its prisons? This is very disturbing.
Dr Reece is determined to continue saving lives. So many of his patients have already come forward with AMAZING testimonies. We are not happy to hear about this, we feel cheated, we feel let down and WE WANT OUR DOCTOR BACK. Public health officials everywhere should be celebrating the likes of Dr Reece, not working to shut him down and leave people without hope suffering. This isn’t okay. Please reinstate Dr Reece immediately.
What will patients do now?
- Where can we access a doctor who will provide the necessary treatments?
- Where can we find a doctor that will bulk bill in our local area? One that isn’t overrun with patients already and who we can trust?
- What happens if this other facility expects payment of hundreds of dollars for a consultation, and treatment when patients don’t have that money?
- Without other doctors readily accessible who provide the same specialist treatments as Dr Reece, and without medication/s some people will not cope. They will more than likely resort back to illicit drugs, ill health and commit crimes to satiate their addictions, and then, /or worse, overdose and/or DIE.
These are not all but are some of the many questions running through the minds of Dr Reece’s now very worried patients.
It is so disheartening and disturbing to have to process what has unfolded here.
Now you might ask yourself, ‘why doesn’t Dr Reece just practice under these restrictions as set out’? It is because if he were to follow these directions his practice would be limited dramatically by the immediate reduction of the number of patients he is able to see daily, patients who NEED to receive their treatment. Plus, as the second direction is to appoint another doctor to supervise him, when there is not another doctor available, this ensures even if he could dramatically reduce his patient load (which is ridiculous and unreasonable) he still wouldn’t satisfy the AHPRA’s demands. These directions ensure that Dr Reece cannot practice. This is not okay. This is something to be reasonably upset about.
Dr Reece isn’t just an ‘addiction doctor’ he is also a very good general practitioner having seen some patients for over 30 years. These people have now lost their GP, the very GP they so badly need and confidently rely on. This simply is not fair and we ALL need your support to help make a change against these ridiculously impossible and arbitrary limitations and restrictions.
There are already reports of people trying to find another bulk billing doctor who are being turned away by other local surgeries who are too busy and not accepting new patients, these doctors are also not addiction specialists and do not have Dr Reece’s expertise and knowledge of their personal health care needs. Bulk billing practice is disappearing. There is nothing to be celebrated here. AHPRA is indirectly targeting our community and it seems all it is doing is harming us.
REINSTATE DR REECE NOW. Please sign this petition and add your testimonial and support. Please remove all restrictions to Dr Reece’s practice and allow him to continue with the ongoing and new care of the 1100 plus patients that Dr Reece sees.
WHY IS PUBLIC HEALTH ON SUCH A TIGHT BUDGET?? Especially as a large percentage of our community rely on bulk billing practice.
Instead of chasing after/shutting down our bulk billing and addiction doctors why aren’t AHPRA or the health minister focusing their efforts and attention into fixing our public health system and making healthcare more accessible and affordable and making reasonable alterations to the National Law to allow for shorter consultation times? For simple prescription renewals or post procedure check-ups, etc. there is often no need for more than five minutes. Some consultations don’t run for fifteen minutes, why insist they do? Especially where realistically this means someone else who really wants to see a doctor today, might actually get to see one.
IT IS NOT ONLY DR REECE AHPRA ARE GOING AFTER:
AHPRA haven’t just gone after Dr Reece but have recently shut down another addiction doctor, and other bulk billing practices. Not only in QLD but in VICTORIA as well. This is what we know of, we expect this is occurring in other States and Territories as well and that we are simply not aware of these as yet.
Before you say that AHPRA is a National Regulator and that this has nothing to do with the state government, it’s been said that, AHPRA was allegedly constituted in the unicameral parliament of Queensland — which is why another addiction doctor who was shut down by AHPRA only a few months ago, is challenging their constitutional right/validity to act outside the jurisdiction that formed them — Federally. This is being challenged on the 23 March 2023 by another Queensland Addiction Specialist Doctor that was shut down three months ago.
Absolutely no care or thought is being given to the welfare of our communities and to the people that make them up. It is a DISGRACE.
This petition is 100% patient led.
WE WANT OUR DOCTOR BACK!
WE WANT IMMEDIATE REINSTATEMENT OF DR REECE AND THE SOUTHCITY FAMILY MEDICAL CENTRE.
WE ARE CALLING ON STATE AND FEDERAL HEALTH MINISTERS TO ACT IMMEDIATELY TO REINSTATE DR REECE AND HIS CLINIC SERVICES FOR PUBLIC HEALTH AND PATIENT WELL-BEING AND FOR CIVIL SOCIETY.
WE WANT WHAT IS RIGHT, FAIR AND REASONABLE – HEALTHCARE FOR ALL.
WE NEED OUR DOCTOR AND HIS KNOWLEDGE OF US AND OUR TREATMENTS!
WE DO NOT DESERVE TO BECOME EVEN MORE VULNERABLE AND PUT AT RISK OF DIMINISHED PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH BECAUSE OF THE AMOUNT OF CONSULTATIONS BEING BULK BILLED IN ANY ONE HOUR!!! DR REECE DOES NOT NEED AN ADDICTION SPECIALIST DOCTOR TO SUPERVISE HIS EVERY MOVE. HE IS CONSIDERED AN EXPERT IN THIS BY MANY IN THE ADDICTION AREA OF SPECIALTY.
WE ARE CALLING ON STATE AND GOVERNMENT POLITICIANS TO ASSIST US TO THIS END:
ANTHONY ALBANESE, Prime Minister of Australia, Phone: (02) 6277 7111, Contact: through this website: https://www.pm.gov.au/contact-your-pm Twitter: @AlboMP, FB: https://www.facebook.com/AlboMP/
YVETTE D’ ATH (MP), Queensland Health Minister, Phone: (07) 3448 7100, Email: health@ministerial.qld.gov.au, Twitter: @YvetteDAth, FB: https://www.facebook.com/yvetteforredcliffe/
MARK BUTLER, Australian Minister for Health and Aged Care, Phone: (02) 6277 7111, Email: minister.butler@health.gov.au, Mark.Butler.MP@aph.gov.au, Twitter: @mark_butler, FB: https://www.facebook.com/MarkButlerMP/
Annastacia Palaszczuk, Premier of Queensland, Phone: (07) 3719 7000, Email: thepremier@premiers.qld.gov.au, Twitter: @AnnastaciaMP, FB: https://www.facebook.com/annastaciamp/
DR REECE IS THE BEST DOCTOR MANY OF US HAVE EVER MET OR HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF BEING IN THE CARE OF. IF YOU DOUBT THIS AHPRA, WE DOUBT YOU. REINSTATE DR REECE IMMEDIATELY TO OPERATE AS HE WAS TO SUCH EXCEPTIONAL STANDARDS OF COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE. THANK YOU.
___________________________
We’d love to see these hashtags in use if you’re posting about this – thank you.
#SaveDrReece #ReinstateDrReeceNOW #SaveBulkBilling #MedicareForAll #HealthCareForAll #PeopleMatter #DrReeceSavesLives
PLEASE share on your social media platforms and use the above hashtag’s, or post your testimonial on our Facebook Page called: LETS SAVE DR REECE AND THE LARGE COMMUNITY OF PEOPLE HE SUPPORTS — https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089191320250&mibextid=LQQJ4d
- or by anonymously sending us a private message to our Facebook page (above) which can then be published by one of our administrators.
It takes 1 minute of your time to sign this petition and a further 5 seconds to share it with your social networks, that is all that we are asking of you and, these simple acts, could potentially lead to a major difference being made in this matter.
THANK YOU for your support! Thank you.
This petition was put together and prepared by, Jaimie and Imogen. If you would like to contact us, you can do so here:
savedrreece@gmail.com & @Twtrrr.
650
Share this petition
Petition created on 13 January 2023