Meet a member – Dr Lee Jones
Cairns GP and practice owner Dr Lee Jones took primary care to a new level after the devastating floods of December 2023.
Dr Jones’ clinic at Yorkey’s Knob is in one of the area’s three major low-lying beaches and becomes like an island whenever there is flooding. While they regularly lose power throughout the year, such extreme weather and the consequences could never have been expected.
Once the rain eventually stopped and the roads cleared, Dr Jones and his colleagues returned to a damaged clinic with no power and vaccines that had to be thrown away.
Despite such unfathomable loss, the doctors grabbed their script paper pads, everything needed for a minor emergency, and set out to seek for a temporary clinic.
“We went as a group of five doctors, one nurse and one admin staff to the only place that had power in the local area - the boat club,” Dr Jones said.
“We asked them if they wouldn't mind us just sitting there and setting up a minor clinic.
“We were there for most of the day. The things people came in for varied from a head injury assessment, multiple lacerations, broken bones, and a lot of mental health immediately.”
Between the team, about 30 patients were able to be seen that day, all who were extremely thankful for the access to health care amid disaster.
While so much good was able to be achieved from the Yorkeys Medical team’s drive to serve the community, the experience exposed many issues and pain points of the health system to Dr Jones.
“Cyclones are going to happen, especially here in Cairns and even on the Gold Coast. I am assuming resources for GPs already exists, but when it is an emergency and you don’t have access to files or electricity, it’s hard stuff to find,” he said.
“The funding to run a generator at our clinic is probably $10,000 or so. But every year, because we haven't bought a generator, we lose power and then six or seven thousand dollars’ worth of government vaccines.”
Dr Jones’ response to the recent flooding is just one example of his consistent dedication to general practice and his community.
With an increasing fear for the future of general practice at the height of the North Queensland pharmacy pilot trial, Dr Lee Jones joined AMA Queensland in hope of support to drive positive change for the medical industry.
After the news of the secret State Government proposal to allow pharmacists to diagnose and prescribe for a range of serious conditions without consulting a GP, was leaked in early 2022, many GPs including Dr Jones raised concerns with AMA Queensland.
“There's an enormous risk of danger to our patients with a continuation of all of this – allowing every professional to work as a GP,” he said.
“I don't think the Government really thought about the end consequence to the number of GPs and the reputation of general practice, if a person can walk into a pharmacy and get medication without the medical insight.
“The future of what AMA does and what happens to general practice, I still think is in our own hands.”
Acknowledging and appreciating the role that pharmacists play in collaboration with GPs, Dr Jones has continued to work with AMA Queensland to advocate against untrained pharmacy diagnosis and for the close working relationship that currently exists.
Further information regarding the State Government’s pharmacy pilot is available on our website
See images of the temporary boat club clinic below