March 9, 2017
Kingaroy’s long-standing GP shortage will be addressed, according to Assistant Federal Health Minister Dr David Gillespie.
Dr Gillespie was in Kingaroy on Wednesday with Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington and Member for Maranoa David Littleproud.
He said Kingaroy’s ratio of GP’s to population was worse than the national average, and announced the town has now gained District Workforce Shortage (DWS) status.
The Federal Government uses DWS to distribute medical services across Australia, to ensure adequate services are available in regional, rural and remote areas.
“DWS classifications precisely identify where doctor shortages exist, which means recruitment of new doctors to those areas can be better targeted,” Dr Gillespie said.
Mr Littleproud said the GP shortage had been a concern for some time.
He was relieved there was a solution that would help ensure more doctors could be attracted to the area.
Under current regulations foreign trained doctors, foreign graduates of Australian medical schools and Australian-trained bonded doctors with return of service obligations are restricted from providing services that attract a Medicare rebate unless they work in a DWS area.
Mrs Frecklington said Kingaroy Hospital’s training partnership with Griffith University was a step in the right direction for getting GPs to come out to regional areas.
But if Kingaroy Hospital didn’t have good facilities, young doctors wouldn’t want to stay in the area.
“If we don’t get the proper facilities then we’re not going to attract these people to the region,” Mrs Frecklington said.
Dr Gillespie said there were plenty of Australian medical graduates.
But most don’t end up in rural and regional areas because they trained in the capital cities.
He said the government was working on more initiatives to encourage young doctors to move to regional areas.
