GAWLER hospital was overlooked by the Federal Liberal Government for a Medicare rebatable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) licence in favour of four other South Australian sites – one of which is managed by the South Australian Liberal Party vice president.
As reported in The Bunyip in June, medical imaging company Dr Jones & Partners began operating at Gawler Health Service as of Monday, June 3 after winning a five-year contract from SA Health – ending Benson Radiology’s long-standing tenure at the site.
In February, the Morrison Government announced it would be awarding Medicare eligibility to 50 MRI units across the country, worth $375 million, with applications for licences closing in November last year.
While Dr Jones & Partners was successful in obtaining a licence at its Mount Barker site, its application for one at Gawler hospital was rejected – losing out to The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woodville South, Riverland General Hospital in Berri, and Sound Radiology in Parkside.
Sound Radiology is a private practice managed by chief executive Cara Miller – who in 2018 was appointed as vice president of the South Australia Liberal Party branch – and her practice received the MRI Medicare licence at the approval of Federal Health minister Greg Hunt.
Mr Hunt was quizzed on his relationship with Ms Miller during parliament last week by Shadow Health minister Chris Bowen, who asked if he knew of her SA Liberal Party involvement.
“I can't confirm – that matter is not known to me and, to the best of my knowledge, has never been known to me,” he said.
Despite his denial in parliament, Mr Hunt was pictured alongside Ms Miller in a Sound Radiology newsletter published in 2018.
“In November last year I met with the Federal Health minister, The Hon Greg Hunt,” Ms Miller stated in the newsletter.
“I was pleased to hear that he was absolutely amazed with our MRI unit.
“He heard about the cutting-edge imaging we were performing on some of South Australia’s most vulnerable patients.
“He is certainly open to funding solutions for greater Medicare access for MRI studies, but as we all know, it is difficult to find money in their budget.
“Recently there has been a Senate enquiry regarding the accessibility of Diagnostic Imaging services for Australians and access to affordable MRI was top of the list.
“Sound Radiology works closely with the Department of Health and Ageing to help deliver these outcomes for our local community and we are hopeful that our collaboration will see us provide Medicare supported MRI scans in the near future.”
South Australia received only four licences in the February round of approvals, with New South Wales (14), Queensland (13), Victoria (12) and Western Australia being the major beneficiaries.
According to the Department of Health, one of the key criteria for assessing each application considers “information about the estimated patient catchment area of the identified location; other practices with MRI that also service this patient population that are within 30kms of the identified location; and the distance (in kilometres) to the nearest Medicare-eligible MRI service from the identified location”.
Before the four new sites received Medicare eligibility this year, Sound Radiology and the QEH were located within 30km of nine of the state’s 11 pre-existing units, while Dr Jones & Partners Mount Barker and Riverland General Hospital were within zero.
Comparatively, the Lyell McEwin Hospital housed the only full Medicare rebatable MRI unit within 30km of Gawler hospital.
The Bunyip sent questions to Mr Hunt’s office asking whether he had given preferential treatment to Sound Radiology because of Ms Miller’s Liberal affiliation, but instead received a response from a Department of Health spokesperson.
“As part of the Invitation to Apply (ITA) process for MRI expansion, the Department received 44 applications for Medicare-eligible MRI in South Australia,” the spokesperson said.
“These 44 included a mix of operational and non-operational MRI machines.
“The ITA process involved a public call for applications.
“Each of the 493 applications was assessed by the Department against the mandatory and substantive criteria outlined in the ITA documentation and advice provided to the Government.
“The successful applications were decided by the Government, taking into account the assessment information provided by the Department.”
