With the Federal Government’s budget announcement, it is becoming more evident that the Rural Generalist as a health profession is being phased out.
To regional and rural communities, Rural Generalists are much more than just their local doctor, they are core community members and are once again not getting the support they need to continue caring for their local patients.
This is nothing new as health services in such areas have been underresourced and understaffed for decades, leading to patients often travelling hundreds of kilometres to get the care they need or even a consult.
AMA Queensland Vice-president, Dr Nick Yim who is also a GP in Hervey Bay said the key to recruiting and retaining rural generalists is increased funding to help create strong support networks for them.
“The big thing we are seeing is now many of our doctors see a big importance of self-care; gone are the days where you hear doctors working 60, 70 or even 80 hours a week,” Dr Yim said.
“AMA Queensland is calling for a workforce plan from the state government to find out where the deficiencies of numbers are; we know that one full-time equivalent doctor may not mean one doctor, it might mean two doctors.
“We also need to see what the deficiencies are from a training position perspective.”
Before last week’s budget announcement, the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) submitted a proposal to invest in rural generalist-specific Medicare items.
This proposal aimed to promote rural generalism as a profession, train 500 ACRRM registrars annually for the next five years and enhance ties with universities to provide scholarships for medical students taking the path of RG.
Instead, this perfectly good starting point to tackle this ongoing problem at its roots has been overlooked.
National Rural Health Alliance chairperson Nicole O’Reilly said people living in rural areas are nearly three times more likely to die from avoidable causes than those in metropolitan areas.
“It is disheartening to observe the government’s lack of responsiveness to rural voices and its failure to commit to comprehensive reforms that would offer sustainable and long-term benefits for rural communities,“ Ms O’Reilly said.
“Funding could have enabled rural Australians to access health and medical services in their local communities.
“There is much more to be done to address the inequity in health care outcomes for rural and remote Australians.”
