Five Million Extra GP Services
The Government’s $632 million investment to train 1200 new GPs a year will deliver around five million extra GP services across Australia.
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17 March 2010
Analysis by the Department of Health of the Government’s $632 million investment to train 1200 new GPs a year has shown that the move will deliver around five million extra GP services across Australia.
Those services are much needed in all parts of the country, but particularly so in rural and regional areas. With half the new places to be provided in rural and regional Australia, this will go a long way to reliving the pressure on stretched local GPs.
I spoke to the Breathing NEWLIFE into General Practice Conference today about the importance of GPs, and particularly GP registrars, to our primary care system.
It is clear that we cannot reform the health system as a whole without investment in primary care and our GPs – the lifeblood of our health system.
Australia has a significantly higher rate of hospitalisation than comparable countries – double that of Canada and significantly higher than the United States, the UK and New Zealand.
It is estimated that last year, some 441,000 hospital admissions could have been avoided through providing better care in the community – nearly one in ten hospital admissions.
These additional five million services will provide a welcome boost to our efforts to improve primary care.
The many GP registrars at today’s conference are central to our future health system.
Delivering better primary and preventative health care will keep people healthier and out of hospital and, importantly, take the pressure off our essential acute care services.
The Rudd Government is determined to deliver real change to our health system, so that all Australians can have better health and better hospitals.
For all media inquiries, please contact the Minister's Office on 02 6277 7220.
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