DEPUTY Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce was in Shepparton yesterday to meet with end-to-end Rural Medical Degree students, and to announce additional investment in rural health.
If re-elected, the Morrison-Joyce Government will invest more than $1B to boost rural health, including an additional $146M to address shortages of doctors and allied health professionals into regional and rural communities. Key parts of this funding include:
– (DASH IS DOT POINT) $35M to significantly expand the successful Innovative Models of Collaborative Care program across rural and regional Australia from January 1, 2023, to attract, support and retain rural health professionals
– $15M to expand the John Flynn Prevocational Doctor program to more than 1,000 placements in rural Australia per year by 2026. This will train the next generation of junior doctors through rural and regional GP placements and prime them for the Australian General Practice Training program
– More GPs will be supported to work in country hospitals and treat patients in the community by expanding the Murrumbidgee single employer model trial to more regions across Australia, allowing more doctors training to be rural generalists GPs to work to the full scope of their skills and provide community and hospital-based services, like anesthetics, obstetrics, mental health, and emergency medicine
– $9M for additional training posts outside of community general practice for rural generalists, GP registrars, and followed GPs to undertake advanced skills training – like obstetrics, palliative care, paediatrics, and mental health – that are needed in the community
– $87M to provide additional workforce incentives to GPs and allied health professionals to provide targeted support to rural generalists with additional education and skills to work in the regions, and to support the engagement of nurses, nurse practitioners and allied health professionals as part of local multidisciplinary care teams.
GP catchments granted Distribution Priority (DPA) status due to a shortage of medical practitioners will have their status extended for 12 months from July 1, 2022. This will allow more time to recruit overseas trained doctors, while local doctors are being incentivised to work rurally by eliminating HELP debt for eligible nurses and doctors who work in rural towns and remote areas.
