Time For Action - More Doctors Needed In The Bush Now, Australia

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 30 Apr 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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The AMA welcomed the release of the Federal Government's Audit of Health Workforce in Rural and Regional Australia but said the report was always expected to paint a dire picture of workforce shortages.

AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, said there has been a significant shortfall of doctors in the rural and regional Australia and this audit further reinforced the need for something drastic to be done.

"There have been numerous reports on the state of the rural medical workforce and we don't need any more audits, reports, studies or inquiries.

"What we need is action. We need the upcoming Federal Budget to inject around $400 million a year into incentives that get doctors into the bush."

Dr Capolingua said there was no doubt that existing funding could be better spent, but better targeting of funds will only help at the margin.

"We need to stop fiddling at the edges and give rural and regional Australians the investment in health services they deserve."

The AMA welcomed the Government's commitment to implement its election promises to boost funding for specialist outreach programs, scholarships, and locum services but Dr Capolingua said these fall far short of what is needed.

Last year, the AMA and the Rural Doctors Association of Australia jointly proposed a rural rescue package that outlined a comprehensive set of rural-specific support incentives to get more doctors working in the bush.

The AMA/RDAA rescue package included:

- a Rural Isolation Payment to be paid to all rural doctors (including GPs, specialists and registrars) to reflect the isolation associated with rural practice; and

- a Rural Procedural and Emergency/On Call Loading to better support rural procedural doctors (including procedural specialists) who provide obstetric, surgical, anaesthetic or primary emergency on-call service in rural communities.

Dr Capolingua said it was time to put in place real measures that will see more locally-trained doctors take up a career in rural Australia.

The AMA is also calling for the Government to target more money to help rebuild country hospital infrastructure.

"Getting doctors to the bush is not just about money, it's about making sure doctors have the facilities to treat patients safely and the capability to train new doctors coming through the system," Dr Capolingua said.

Australian Medical Association