How can Cohealth do better if it is not willing to change? Did it ever have any intention to abide by all the recommendations of the review? Did it ever have any intention to release the report in its entirety regardless of its findings, positive or negative?
Dear Cohealth board and executive team,
My name is Alice. It’s not my real name but I have been a Cohealth patient for more than a decade.
I have some questions I am hoping you can answer. I don’t expect you to come through, given your track record.
When I first heard in October 2025r about the plan to close GP services I did something I have never done before. I reached out to The Medical Republic and Health Services Daily late at night to tell them what it meant to me.
I have a long list of serious medical issues, from type 1 diabetes to complex PTSD to stage three cancer without the status of remission, fibromyalgia and chronic pain. I have had a heart attack, have asthma and my physical disabilities mean I cannot walk unaided.
These are just the serious conditions. While I currently have accommodation I have been homeless most of my life, so I know what it is like to struggle. I have no family and no friends I can completely rely on or trust.
For this reason, my Cohealth GP is my lifeline, so much so that they are my emergency contact. Without my GP I have no one I can completely trust.
When I reached out to TMR and HSD I told them all of this, along with my resolve that I felt there would be no other option but to end my own life if I lost access to my GP. You might feel that this is an extreme response. But if you walked in my shoes you might understand.
My GP is my lifeline to the world. It is a professional and trusting relationship that has taken years to build. I have no doubt that it is because of this relationship that I am still alive. I don’t have the capacity to start again. There is no one in my world I trust more than my GP.
I see my GP once a month without fail. My GP knows that if I don’t come to my appointment I am dead. When I heard about the closure of my GP services in October last year I made a decision.
It meant I would die two ways. I could suffer for a short while then die or just take my own life and not drag out the suffering. I know I will not find another bulk-billing GP who’s going to be able to meet my complex support needs.
Since October, Cohealth has been thrown a number of lifelines from the government.
But my decision still stands. Without my monthly GP appointments, for me life will be untenable.
This is not an attention-seeking ploy to force the hand of anyone. It is my decision and I want both Cohealth and the government to understand that their decisions have consequences. Big ones.
The other thing that I want them to know is I am not alone. I am the epitome of a Cohealth patient. We are some of the most marginalised, chronically ill, disadvantaged and complex patients in Melbourne. We are the most vulnerable, and so many of us don’t have access to mobile phones or internet. We rely on Cohealth to give us information.
It is not only me who will face difficult decisions if they no longer have a place where they can go to manage their health as best they can.
So that gives you some background.
On Friday I heard the news that the government had decided to throw in another $1.5 million to keep Cohealth GP services going for another year. This off the back of an independent review that was finished months ago but the report still remains secret.
Why?
If you read the fine print of the review terms of reference you might get an inkling:
“The review will provide a report jointly to the Commonwealth Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, and the Department of Health, Victoria. The report should provide key insights and observations relevant to the scope of the review.
“The review should provide options, and make recommendations to all parties (Cohealth, Commonwealth and state governments) that will serve to address the key purpose of the review, that is, to support sustained and continued access of general practice services to people in Fitzroy, Collingwood, Kensington and neighbouring communities.
“The review will deliver a final report by 28 February 2026, to be held in confidence by departments, in addition to a summary report, which on agreement of all parties, may be subject to public release.”
Who is saying no to the release of this report, paid for by taxpayers like myself?
Is it you, Cohealth? And if it is, why?
As a non-profit organisation, shouldn’t there be transparency and openness about this review and what it found?
Why can’t we see the recommendations Cohealth? Is it because you have no intention of honouring them?
It’s great that we have a year’s reprieve and I will keep being able to see my GP. However your website is yet to provide any certainty.
The last information I can find today, 11 May, says this:
“Please plan ahead and call now to book an appointment with a general practice doctor between now and Tuesday, 30th of June at our General Practice clinics on Hoddle Street, Collingwood; Brunswick Street, Fitzroy; and Gower Street, Kensington.
“This will help us manage appointment availability to make sure our general practice doctors can support people experiencing vulnerable circumstances who may need extra support. We are experiencing high demand for appointments and the team will do their best to find an appointment for you. You may be placed on a waiting list.
“We will keep a follow up list for appointments for July, and will update this page mid-May when we have confirmed appointment availability. To book an appointment, or ask our friendly team any questions, please call your local clinic.”
I used to be able to book my appointments three months in advance. According to the website this information was last updated on 16 April.
Where is my email or SMS, Cohealth, updating me about the latest developments? Where is the information about how the service will run going forward? Why can’t I still make appointments online?
Why do I still feel invisible like I don’t matter?
If I feel this way I can guarantee you other patients do too. They just might not have the means or ability to tell you.
When will you be telling us what is happening, Cohealth, and in a way that will reach everyone?
On Friday you released a statement on your website, saying “the future of local healthcare will be shaped with community”.
Also in today’s edition:
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- Say hello to Dr Hua, the doctor at the world’s first AI-run clinic
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- NDIS providers ‘can’t make the numbers work’ as costs outstrip pricing
“Cohealth will work with our communities in Collingwood, Fitzroy and Kensington to help co-design the future of local general practice services, with a clear focus on continuity of care and a stronger, more sustainable multidisciplinary model for the communities we serve,” you wrote.
“Today’s commitment from the Commonwealth government to support the continuation of these services over the next 12 months, alongside Cohealth’s additional $1.5 million co-contribution, is a welcome step to keep these services open.
“However, Cohealth recognises that securing the long-term future of these General Practice services will require ongoing reform, partnership and support.
“The Independent Review provides a clear pathway to strengthen care into the future, highlighting that additional reform funding is critical to enabling the transition to a more sustainable, future-focused model of care while maintaining continuity of services.
“Cohealth will continue advocating for the longer-term government investment and policy reform required to support sustainable, community-based healthcare.”
Your board chair Sam Sondhi said “ensuring continuity of care for the clients and communities served by these clinics has been central to cohealth’s work and is an important step toward building a stronger and more sustainable future for local healthcare”.
“This reflects our longstanding advocacy for better funding and policy arrangements that better support people with complex health and social needs,” Mr Sondhi said.
“As the Review found, change is needed to help build a more sustainable future for these services. Our focus is now on working with our communities, GPs, clinicians and staff to help shape a multidisciplinary model of care that meets the needs of the people who rely on and value these services every day.”
He said Cohealth recognises that the Independent Review identifies areas where Cohealth needs to do better, and “we are committed to strengthening both how care is delivered and how we engage with, support and communicate with our communities about that care”.
“While the Board does not support all findings of the Review relating to governance and management, we recognise there are areas requiring further strengthening across governance, leadership and management and significant changes are already underway to address this,” you wrote.
“Cohealth recognises that rebuilding trust and confidence must sit alongside the work of strengthening services and shaping their future.”
As a member of this community I am calling BS.
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I have seen no evidence of communication, transparency, advocacy or care during these past eight months. I have just seen a vacuum of nothing. No support, no information. No care. No transparency.
How can you say you don’t support all the findings of the review report and then not elaborate? That is disrespectful at best, misleading and insidious at worst. My money is on the latter. It doesn’t provide a solid foundation for the new and improved Cohealth you say is coming.
How can you do better if you are not willing to change? Did you ever have any intention to abide by all the recommendations of the review? Did you ever have any intention to release the report in its entirety regardless of its findings, positive or negative?
The best thing for Cohealth now is:
- Release the report in its entirety now so people can make their own minds up; and
- Sack the board and the executive.
Without meaningful and transparent change we will just wind up back in this quagmire of uncertainly in 12 months’ time when the latest $1.5 million bail-out is spent – if not before.
I wait patiently for your response, Cohealth.
Alice