Time to read : 2 Minutes
Good News: Rural Australians Are Getting Access To More GPs
You’ve no doubt seen headlines about the critical shortage of doctors across the country, resulting in horrendous wait times at places like the Royal Children’s Hospital where parents are spending up to 12 hours hoping a doctor will see their child.
Thankfully a shift in government funding plus a surge of young graduates are helping put the pieces back together – starting in rural Australia.
Almost every Aussie is struggling to see a GP
The lack of doctors has gotten so bad this year that many parts of the country are at risk of critical GP shortages.
🏥 If no action is taken, the national GP shortage will blow out to 10,600 by 2031.
☠️ More than 60 towns and regions across NSW have been identified as being at critical risk, including Cessnock, Singleton, Katoomba and Gunnedah.
🤒 According to the latest figures, 20% of Australia’s rural population can’t see their GP because there are none nearby, while a whopping 60% have no access to specialists in their region.
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Changing is coming
The good news is that the powers that be have seen the writing on the wall and are taking strides to address the problem. Young graduates are at the centre of the push for more rural doctors.
A rural medical pathway program has shifted studies away from Melbourne to rural
Bendigo and Albury-Wodonga, with postgraduate MD programs held in Shepparton. It’s the only program in Victoria where students complete all their training in regional areas.
55% of rural students want to work rurally when they start their studies in the city, but that drops to less than 10% upon graduation. Greater incentives for rural doctors are attracting young doctors back to the bush.
The latest Budget (Oct 2022) announced incentive payments of up to $10,500 for GPs with clinical skills to practice in rural and remote communities. The package is worth
more than $74 million.
The take-up has been brilliant. Plenty of young graduates are leaving the city behind to take up rural GP posts. And it’s more than money that’s drawing them away.
As one young doctor told ABC News: “If my car breaks down … I want to be in a town where people would stop and be like, ‘Hey mate, what's going on?’ That sense of community and togetherness is a really big drawing factor.”
The bottom line
Everyone deserves high-quality healthcare – no matter where they live around the country.
🌈 While many people are doing it tough right now, it’s positive to see so many moving parts trying to help our rural and regional compatriots get access to local doctors and specialists.
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