By their reckoning, the changes will strip away the margins that allow them to bulk bill patients, something that is vital in a low socioeconomic area such as ours. When patients can no longer afford to visit their general practitioner, one of two things will happen. They will either flood the local hospital’s already stretched emergency ward or, worse, they will forego treatment altogether.

As Dr Andrew Bonney contends, the savings made in the short term risk becoming cost blowouts in the longer term if chronic diseases are left undiagnosed and much greater medical intervention is needed.

An acute shortage of GPs is already a problem in the Shoalhaven. Ring any surgery and try to get an urgent appointment, and it’s almost impossible. A newcomer to the region trying to get on the books of any practice presents a whole different challenge.

Locals are right to expect their local politicians, both federal and state – the latter because the state will cop the fallout through its hospitals – to fight tooth and nail against the proposals yet to come into force and those already instituted.

At a local level, where the health system already struggles to cope with an ageing population, we are staring at an oncoming medical emergency. That’s why we are witnessing the rare sight of doctors going public and airing their grievances and concerns. And we can expect more in the weeks and months to come unless these measures are reversed.