Town cries for help Kambalda situation 'galling'

Kambalda residents frustrated by the failure to find a replacement GP and fearful of a fatal workplace accident in the remote mining town, which lost its doctors two months ago, are circulating a "Yell for Help" - a petition to be delivered to WA Minister for Health Kim Hames the day before the election.

The petition organiser said the community had already contacted all three tiers of Government, but had grown impatient with the lack of progress, with residents in the town of 3000 forced to take the 45-minute drive to Kalgoorlie-Boulder and join week-long waiting lists for routine check-ups.

Elizabeth Temme, a resident employed on a local mine site, said she had finally relented and started circulating the petition on Wednesday after her 12-year-old daughter had to travel to Kalgoorlie Hospital and wait more than two hours in the Emergency Department for a tetanus shot.

“It’s almost a thing that Perth doesn’t care, ” she said.

“But it’s their sons, husbands and daughters on the mines out there.

“There’s no doctor and what if something happens?”