The Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) has urged the Rudd Government to better fund and
build on the critical support programs it provides to entice and retain doctors in rural and remote Australia,
not reduce the reach of the existing programs.
The Association is seeking an absolute assurance from the Government that supports for rural doctors will
not be reduced in the forthcoming budget.
The Association has been concerned by an article in today's Courier Mail newspaper which reported a
spokesperson for Federal Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, as saying "the current incentive system [for enticing
doctors to rural communities] is broken" and would be reformed.
"Working families in rural Australia are finding it increasingly difficult to access local doctors, hospitals and health
services" RDAA President, Dr Nola Maxfield, said. "The Rudd Government must, in the forthcoming budget,
improve support programs to recruit and retain more doctors in country Australia.
"We have absolutely no problem with the Government reforming rural doctor support programs, as long as
'reforming' the programs isn't just a nice way of saying they are going to be 'axed' or 'cut back', and as long as
there is additional funding put behind the programs to make them work.
"The Government has so far shown no indication that it will improve the current suite of supports by backing them
up with increased funding-our major fear is that reforming them within their current restrictive budget will simply
see less rural doctors able to access the supports available, and consequently more of them may vote with their
feet and leave rural practice altogether.
"Cutting rural doctor support programs simply to save money would be an absolute tragedy for rural and remote
communities across Australia, given many of these communities already have no local doctor and residents face
up to 300 kilometre round-trips and six week waits to see a distant doctor even for a basic checkup.
"At least 1800 additional doctors are desperately needed across rural and remote Australia right now just to ensure
rural Australians have access to basic healthcare.
"The budget for rural healthcare has already been pared back to the bone over many years-it is simply not the
place to further cut government funding in times of economic downturn.
"We urge the Rudd Government not to abandon the one-third of Australians who live in the bush, and instead help
them get the access to basic healthcare they so desperately need."
RDAA has again urged the Federal Government to use next month's budget to introduce a critical Rural Rescue
Package to get and keep more doctors in rural and remote Australia. The Package, first outlined in 2007 and
supported by the AMA, comprises a Rural Isolation Payment to reflect the isolation of rural practice and a Rural
Procedural and Emergency/On Call Loading to better support rural procedural doctors who provide obstetric,
surgical, anaesthetic or primary emergency on-call service in rural communities.
Source
Rural Doctors Association of Australia