Riverina GP warns of long wait for patients during Queen's mourning day

Finley Medical Centre principal general practitioner Alam Yoosuff, who sits on the boards of Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network and Murrumbidgee Local Health District, said the already struggling health system would not cope and many people with GP appointments that day would have to be "slotted in down the track".

Dr Yoosuff, who will be working at the 16-bed Finley hospital on the public holiday, urged people not to blame Prime Minister Anthony Albanese whom he said was "bound by convention".

"It's not an ideal situation, there will be people who are disadvantaged, there will be a lot of things getting cancelled and pushed back," Dr Yoosuff said.

"The health workforce which is already under strain and struggling to find enough staff to slot in after the holiday.

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"What we would normally do is about four or five cases in a surgery list, now we need to find somewhere to slot in all these people that we are postponing into eight cases a day for the next few weeks.

"It is going to add on to our strain and it is going to add on to our workload in the hospital system, I can see that very well, but haven't got any option.

"The prime minister is going by convention, even the parliament getting delayed, wasn't a choice that he made, he's bound by convention.

"I understand his hands are tied but it certainly will have an effect on appointments booked with any doctor.

"Sometimes you wait to see a doctor for eight months and then that day you get this public holiday and it gets cancelled - where do you put those people?"

Dr Yoosuff said the situation might become clearer after meetings between the Victorian Department of Health and Albury Wodonga Health.

"Albury is a NSW hospital but it works on the Victorian system so we're waiting to hear what comes out of those meetings," Dr Yoosuff said.

An Albury Wodonga Health spokesman said meetings between AWH and the Victorian government were "ongoing".

"We're in talks with Victoria Health today and hope to have this resolved as soon as possible," the spokesman said.

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