As yet another general practice closes, GPs have descended on the Parliament of Tasmania to advocate for government support to ensure the state is training the GPs it needs to keep its communities healthy.
Today, nine Tasmanian GPs from the Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) will meet with their elected representatives to advocate for the health of their patients and communities. The GPs are calling for:
- funding to attract 20 overseas-trained specialist doctors to become GPs via the RACGP's Fellowship Support Program (FSP), which allows overseas-trained specialist doctors to qualify as GPs in two years
- support for trainee doctors participating in the John Flynn Prevocational Doctor Program to complete general practice rotations to promote it as a career speciality
- funding to vaccinate vulnerable Tasmanians against potentially fatal meningococcal and RSV infections.
Yesterday saw reports of the looming closure of a rural general practice in southern Tasmania in September after its GP retires; this follows three closures in Hobart in May and several small rural practices facing workforce challenges that were saved from closure through last-minute interventions.
RACGP Tasmania Chair Dr Toby Gardner said: "While eleventh-hour rescues have saved some communities' local general practice, we need long-term solutions. There is no substitute for the quality care you get from a GP who knows you and your history. General practice care helps people stay healthy and out of hospital.
"That's the message we're bringing to politicians today – they need to make sure their communities have the GPs they need to stay healthy. Tasmania only has around 106 GPs per 100,000 people, well below the national average of 119. This is contributing to our state's longer than average wait times at the emergency department – and why that's gotten significantly worse in the last 10 years.
"The Tasmanian Government's investments in general practice have been welcome, including their flexible grant funding and commitment pay up to $100,000 of the HECS debt of GPs in regional and rural areas. We're also hoping their GP NOW Rapid Response Team brings GPs to Tasmania from interstate rather than shuffling our local GP workforce. As I said during the election, the government must make sure its health spending brings more GPs to Tasmania.
"We need to look at what we can do to attract future GPs from interstate and overseas. Overseas-trained doctors must practice outside the big capital cities for the first ten years of their career, and all of Tasmania meets that requirement. Even funding just 20 doctors to train as specialist GPs in Tasmania via the Fellowship Support Program will make a big difference. This two-year program is the fastest way to get GPs near the start of their career into our communities.
"We also need to make sure doctors educated in Australia are given every opportunity to join our GP workforce – I came to Tasmania from Queensland, where they've invested in giving 340 junior doctors the opportunity to complete regional and rural general practice placements through the John Flynn Prevocational Doctor Program. Junior doctors have told us getting this experience will help more choose general practice – this funding will pay off in future GPs.
"We'll also be emphasising the importance of vaccination. There were over 500 cases of RSV in each of June and July, mostly in children under five. We should be immunising them like other states, and we should be vaccinating vulnerable older patients.
"The Tasmanian Coroner also recommended free meningococcal B vaccines following an inquest into the death of 16-year-old Sarah Beltz in 2018, and that's a conversation we'll continue today."
