MEMBER for Mildura Ali Cupper MP has today called on the Federal and Victorian Governments to do more to address a critical shortage of doctors in the communities of the Mildura electorate. 

“There’s a massive imbalance between the amount of available doctors in the city compared to the country,” she said.

“In the bigger centres many GP clinics are full. In the smaller towns there are no GPs.

“Some patients in my electorate are waiting weeks to see a doctor, or are being forced to travel to bigger regional centres, or Melbourne, for more urgent check-ups.”

Due to GP shortages, families in the electorate are also presenting to Emergency Departments with ailments that otherwise could have been managed in the community.

“This has a flow-on effect on ED waiting times, and the risk is that people will abandon seeking health support because they think it’s too hard to access,” Ms Cupper said.

“This will lead to conditions being exacerbated, creating even more demand on an already stretched system.

“What is frustrating is that there are actions that both the Federal and Victorian Governments can be taking now to help address this problem.”

Ms Cupper called on the Federal Government to urgently review the Practice Incentives Program Rural Loading Incentive to increase financial rewards for GPs to relocate to regional areas.

She’s also called for the immediate doubling of the number of Rural Generalist training places on the Rural Generalist Training Scheme.

At the state level, Ms Cupper believes the Victorian Government should consider greater investment in Nurse Practitioners and Paramedic Practitioners within the state’s health services. 

“Regional Australia needs more GPs, but our primary health care needs can also be supported by enhancing and expanding the roles and capabilities of nurses and paramedics,” she said.

“Particularly in very small rural communities, where the hospital is often also the primary health care centre, enhancing these roles can provide a critical first point of care and assessment in an environment where seeing a GP would be almost impossible.”

Ms Cupper said without some adjustments to the health sector, our GPs will continue to be critically backlogged, leaving little to no flexibility for seeing new patients, and ongoing pressure on the region’s Emergency Departments.