EMMA MCBRIDE, ASSISTANT MINISTER
I'm so pleased to be here in Far North Queensland today and visiting this practice in Gordonvale. Meeting with general practitioners like Dr. Lisa Fraser, who are doing such vital work in your community, keeping people safe and providing really essential health care. What I'm determined to do, working with Minister Butler is to make sure that every Australian no matter where they live, gets access to quality, affordable health care close to home. We know this is a really big challenge. And we know that the further you live outside of the big city, the worse your health outcomes are likely to be. As a pharmacist myself, that practiced in a regional community, I've seen firsthand the challenges that general practitioners and allied healthcare workers face in communities like this, I understand the unique challenges. But what makes me optimistic is seeing practices like the one that I've just visited in Gordonvale. And seeing doctors like Dr. Lisa Fraser, providing such vital, essential care to your community.
JOURNALIST
Obviously, the biggest issue is getting GPs and doctors here and up to Innisfail and Mareeba. We have about three GPs here who are probably close to retirement, what is the federal government doing to entice more doctors to come to regional areas?
EMMA MCBRIDE, ASSISTANT MINISTER
So we know that in Australia today, we graduate about 3000 doctors a year. Of that 3000, about 20 percent express interest in working in general practice, but of those only 2 in 10, at the moment, are working outside of the major metros. This is something that's happened over decades and this is something that will take time to turn around. What the federal government did straight after the election was stand up the Strengthen Medicare Taskforce where $750 million has been set aside to look at investing in primary care to look at what is going to improve affordability. That is being worked through the budget process at the moment. There are some specific measures that we're trying to do, to work with enticing young doctors who are open to working in rural communities. So one of them is wiping their HELP debt. So this will mean that from the first of January this year, if you're a doctor who's graduated, and is working in a rural community, that your HELP debt will be wiped. We know talking to the Australian Medical Students Association, that this is something that will be a significant encouragement to doctors who are open to working in rural and remote communities to making that step. We're also working with another initiative, which is called the single employer model. All of our junior doctors do their training in our public health systems and in our hospitals and we know another barrier to them working in primary care as general practitioners is losing those entitlements and not having that portability of entitlements. So with a single employee model, it will mean they'll be able to carry that over to general practice in the community. These are just two measures that we've done, another one they're working on is innovative models of care, where there's grant funding to look at particular models to address challenges, unique challenges, particularly in rural and remote communities, and looking at how we might be able to expand or scale those. So these are just some examples of what we're trying to do to turn around what is a big challenge and a growing problem.
JOURNALIST
HELP debt, it's only been a few months, I guess. Has it been a strong move? Have we seen an increase?
EMMA MCBRIDE, ASSISTANT MINISTER
Well talking to the Australian Medical Students Association, they believe that it will be a big encouragement. The junior doctors were open to working in rural and remote communities to be able to afford to do that. The department's own figures have estimated that about 800 doctors are likely to benefit from that. But we'll be really keen to see the uptake and to look at how we might be able to refine this so that more junior doctors take up this opportunity to work in the most rural and remote communities.
JOURNALIST
What were some of the other issues that were raised today?
EMMA MCBRIDE, ASSISTANT MINISTER
So we know that from listening to GPs, from the outer suburbs to the most rural and remote parts of Australia, that there are particular challenges running a general practice at the moment. You've mentioned some of the costs, those indirect costs that practices face, in being able to provide the right kind of care to patients. The other thing that they've mentioned is the acuity of patients, that they'll be seeing patients now who are much more complex. Lisa was talking about ambulances stopping here on their way to the hospital and saying, 'can you see this patient?' So there's the acuity and complexity of patient care. There's a cost of providing that care and there's the challenges of an aging population and being able to provide the right kind of care that people need particularly in aged care homes as well. Thank you.