Frontline staff at Medicare are under increasing pressure and have recently begun to tell clients at a Woden office to fill in a form and drop their receipts into a box, instead of offering the normal face-to-face service.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Cuts of almost 5000 staff from the Department of Human Services in the past four years have made a significant impact on services personnel could offer, the Community and Public Sector Union has said.
"Staff took a million extra calls last year,'' the union's deputy national president Lisa Newman said.
"DHS staff are reporting increasing workloads, answering calls, processing claims and generally dealing with what can be very complex and sensitive issues.
“As much as the department would like to believe that everything can be sorted out at the click of a mouse or the tap of an app, it can’t.
"Dealing with your grandmother’s pension or your son or daughter’s student payments can be time-consuming and demanding.''
The Medicare office at Westfield Belconnen closed down in April, forcing clients to go elsewhere.
DHS general manager Hank Jongen said staff from the Westfield office had moved to the Centrelink Office on Chandler Street, Belconnen.
He said it was more convenient for Medicare and Centrelink staff to share an office.
Ms Newman said plenty of Canberrans were still willing to line up for personal service.
"Many people calling into Centrelink are forced to wait as long as 90 minutes before their call is answered. It should come as no surprise that people actually want to go into a shop and talk to another person to get advice or simply help in filling in a form,'' she said.
"That’s why it’s so important to have the appropriate staffing levels to ensure that people get the right service where they want it rather than where the department sees fit.”
Mr Jongen said an increasing number of doctors in the ACT were able to process claims for patients at their surgeries.
"In June 2014, 80 per cent of general practitioners and 88 per cent of specialists in the ACT lodged claims for their patients electronically at their practice,'' he said.
"This is an increase of 10 per cent for GPs and 12 per cent for specialists from the same time the previous year. This is the easiest way for most people to claim their Medicare rebate.''
Mr Jongen insisted people could still get face-to-face service at the Woden Medicare office.
"Customers can still line up at Westfield Woden Medicare if they wish and receive personalised assistance when claiming their refund,'' he said.
"If customers have not claimed at the doctor’s surgery they can still save time by using our digital or drop-box services.
"If customers are not already registered for our digital services, our staff will help customers register so that they can make claims in the future at a time that suits them and without the need to visit our office.
"Customers can also save time by filling out the form, attaching the relevant documents and dropping it in our drop-box without the need to wait.''
