Addressing GP shortage

Friday April 21, 2023

YOU’VE probably seen the ads – offering eyewatering sums for locum doctors and medical staff.

The problem of educating, attracting and retaining skilled medical professionals is nation-wide and the Limestone Coast is no different.

I congratulate my MacKillop colleague Nick McBride for speaking with State Minister for Health Chris Picton and raising a Riverland initiative as a potential idea to address the GP shortage in the Limestone Coast.

The Riverland Academy for Clinical Excellence (RACE) provides pathways for junior doctors to become rural generalists and has significantly improved health service delivery, clinical training and recruitment in the Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network.

RACE has helped increase doctor numbers by 25 per cent since 2021, with eleven doctors joining the program in 2023 and is highly sought-after by medical graduates.

The centre also supports research and innovation and will collaborate with universities, medical research institutes and organisations to support research that attracts investment into the local region.

Many great ideas that originate in the regions can work as a model for other areas and I was delighted to learn discussions have already begun with our LCLHN on how we can expand that model to Limestone Coast.

Just a month ago, I spoke in Parliament about regional nursing students not having the same access to financial subsidies for placement as their city-based counterparts.

I’ve always said that regional people deserve the same access to services as city people and our region is growing by the day.

Access to quality heath care is one of the yardsticks of a thriving city.

The more GPs that decide to live and work in our great region, the better.

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