November 24, 2022
Nationals leader David Littleproud has blamed Federal Government changes to the Distribution Priority Area (DPA) scheme for the shortage of GPs in his electorate.
Mr Littleproud, the Member for Maranoa, said Kingaroy GPs were at capacity and would not accept new patients.
“Kingaroy Hospital has received a $92.5 million upgrade but cannot operate at capacity due to staff shortages,” he said.
Mr Littleproud said international medical graduates previously needed to work in a DPA – such as Kingaroy – for at least 10 years to be eligible for Medicare, but an expansion of the DPA scheme meant they could now be recruited in many metropolitan areas.
As a result, regional electorates such as Maranoa were missing out, he said.
An analysis of DPA classifications shows that multiple catchments have changed status in the past 12 months.
New areas include Hobart Inner and Hobart North-East in Tasmania; Townsville, Lowood, Springfield-Redbank and Maleny-Mapleton in Queensland; and Wollongong, Gosford, Cessnock Region and Newcastle in NSW.
Partial DPA status had also been granted to Queensland areas such as Kenmore-Brookfield-Moggill, Nambour, Narangba-Burpengary and Mudgeeraba-Tallebudgera.
“Since expanding the DPAs, Labor has made it harder for regional and rural areas to attract international GPs,” Mr Littleproud said.
“The result is that regional and rural communities are hurting and, sadly, the risk to the health of locals in Maranoa is enormous.”
- External link: DPA Classifications For GPs
