Rural doctors say 16,000 more health professionals are urgently needed in the bush

Feb 20 2008

Doctors working in rural Australia have called on the government to offer better incentives to keep doctors in the bush.

They say this must happen if a rural health crisis is to be averted.

At a workforce roundtable assembled by the Rural Doctors Association (RDA), Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon met 15 peak rural health and consumer organisations.

At the meeting a range of practical and cost-effective solutions were discussed with the aim of encouraging more health professionals to work and stay in rural and remote Australia.

RDA president Peter Rischbieth warned the health crisis would worsen unless immediate action was taken.

The RDA says rural communities would benefit most from a multi-disciplinary mix of doctors, nurses, midwives, Aboriginal Health Workers, dentists and allied health professionals if they are to enjoy better access to local healthcare.

The RDA estimates at least 16,000 more health professionals are urgently needed in the bush - 1,000 additional doctors, 5,400 additional nurses, 600 additional midwives, 1,000 additional Aboriginal Health Workers, 1,700 dentists and over 6,100 additional allied health professionals.

At present people living in regional and remote areas wait as long as six weeks or more for a standard medical consultation, and also have a life expectancy three years less than their city counterparts.

The RDA says 50% of all rural maternity units across Australia have been closed in the past decade alone, forcing many rural women to travel long distances to give birth elsewhere.

The association is calling for extra funding for regional services to be set out in the next round of the state-federal health care agreement and wants the government to address the social determinants of health including poverty, housing, transport, employment and education.

Dr. Rischbieth says there is presently a major opportunity for the state and federal governments to work in collaboration, to establish funding mechanisms and to reinvigorate the health system.

He says until consistent changes are in place the health care of rural Australians will become more and more difficult and health outcomes will continue to deteriorate.

Dr. Rischbieth says in a country which is as resource rich as Australia it is not good news for rural Australians.

The RDA says an additional 3,000 medical graduates per year are needed to maintain the ageing workforce in regional Australia and more incentives are needed to get students to take up health professions and encourage graduates to stay in the bush.

The health minister says the government is determined to improve the health of rural regional and remote communities and a government audit of health workforce shortages in rural areas, due out shortly, will provide accurate information about the extent of the problem.

Ms Roxon says the government's National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission, to be established in the coming weeks, would also be asked to explicitly identify a long-term plan for improving rural health services.

The RDA says it looks forward to working with the Minister and her representatives to effect positive change in rural healthcare delivery.

The organisations attending the roundtable were representatives from the Rural Doctors Association of Australia, the Australian College of Midwives, the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, the Australian General Practice Network,the Australian Nursing Federation, the Australian Rural Nurses and Midwives, the Council of Remote Area Nurses of Australia, the Country Women’s Association of Australia, Health Consumers of Rural and Remote Australia, the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, the National Farmers’ Federation (represented by the NSW Farmers Association), the National Rural Faculty of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the National Rural Health Alliance, the Rural Health Workforce Australia, and the Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health.