The new federal budget, handed down on Tuesday evening, has offered a number of measures aimed at tackling the shortage of doctors and GPs in western Victoria.
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The centrepiece of a new ‘Stronger Rural Health Strategy’ will be the Murray-Darling medical schools network, which aimed to have rural doctors learning at new courses from 2021, including at Wodonga and Bendigo.
Horsham and Stawell have struggled, in particular, to recruit and retain GPs.
In January, federal Health Minister Greg Hunt assigned both areas ‘District of Workforce Shortage’ status.
The strategy aims to “improve health access and services for people living in regional, rural and remote Australia” with “key initiatives are aimed at addressing health workforce shortages in the regions through a renewed focus on teaching, training, recruitment and retention”.
The strategy will establish the ‘More Doctors for Rural Australia Program’, designed to “enable Australian trained doctors to undertake practice in rural and remote areas”.
A ‘Workforce Incentive Program’ will “encourage a range of health professionals, including nurses and allied health professionals to deliver services in rural and remote areas.”
“The Strategy will provide greater opportunities for Australian doctors through better teaching, training and retention,” Wannon MP Dan Tehan said.
“This means better qualified GPs, nurses and allied health professionals will have opportunities, through training and other incentives, to live and practice in towns like ours, instead of remaining in big cities.”
Mallee MP Andrew Broad said the budget had “delivered more investment in health”.
“You will be able to train as a doctor in regional area, all the way through,” he said.
There’s also assistance for graduates, whether you do your graduate in Horsham, Kerang, Mildura or Warracknabeal, we want to attract more doctors into our patch. It’s just so important.”
The government will also “increase the capacity and flexibility” of existing bonded scholarship programs for doctors committing to return to work in regional areas following their training.
The budget has allocated $4.6 million over four years from 2018/19 to establish a National Rural Health Commissioner to provide advice on opportunities to rural health services and the development of a National Rural Generalist Pathway for the training of rural doctors.
“The commissioner will work with regional and rural communities, the health sectors, universities and specialist training colleges and across all levels of government to improve rural health policies and champion rural practice,” the budget stated.
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