June 24, 2016
A re-elected Coalition Federal Government would appoint the first ever “National Rural Health Commissioner”, Deputy National party leader Fiona Nash said on Friday.
The Coalition has also promised to “move swiftly” to develop a National Rural Generalist Pathway to address the lack of medical professionals in rural, regional and remote areas.
Ms Nash said these two measures would put rural health at the heart of government decision-making and improve access to critical health services in rural areas.
The National Rural Health Commissioner would work with rural, regional and remote communities, the health sector, universities, specialist training colleges and across all levels of government to improve rural health policies and champion the cause of rural practice, she said.
The Commissioner would also lead the development of the National Rural Generalist Pathway which would improve access to skilled doctors in rural, regional and remote Australia.
Due to the limited availability of specialist doctors in rural and remote areas, rural GPs, often known as Rural Generalists, require a significantly more diverse skills set, with the expectation of substantial after hours service.
Rural Generalists frequently have advanced training in areas such as general surgery, obstetrics, anaesthetics and mental health.
Despite these extra skills, there is no nationally recognised scheme in place to recognise their substantial scope of practice and extended working hours.
Ms Nash said the Rural Health Commissioner would work with the health sector and training providers to define what it is to be a Rural Generalist.
The Commissioner would also develop options to ensure appropriate incentives and remuneration for Rural Generalists, recognising their extra skills and hours.
“We need to get the right medical professionals with the right skills in the right places,” Ms Nash said.
“As a rural person who lives hours from a major city myself, I understand rural Australia needs more medical professionals and this pathway will help deliver them. Queensland has a good model but we need a national approach.
“Extra recognition and financial incentives for Rural Generalists will help attract more medical professionals to the bush and help keep the ones we already have.
“This was made clear in the Hambleton Review into the GP Rural Incentives Program.
“Rural, regional and remote Australians deserve better access to medical professionals and this policy will help deliver that.
“Rural Australians don’t expect a brain surgeon or a cardiologist on every corner, but they rightly expect access to quality health services, comparable to their city counterparts.”
Rural Doctors Association of Australia president Dr Ewen McPhee welcomed the initiative, saying it had the capacity to make a huge difference to the health of rural Australians.
“This would be a significant step towards achieving greater equality of healthcare for rural and remote Australians and shows a real commitment from the Coalition to improving their health outcomes.”
Professor Lucie Walters, president of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, said the College also welcomed the announcements.
“This is important recognition not only of the importance of improving health outcomes in rural and remote communities, but also of the value of the Rural Generalist model of practice in achieving this goal,” she said.
