Liberal Senator questions whether rural GP services should be taken over by public hospitals

Medical graduates are deserting general practice and training to become specialists prompting a Liberal Senator to drop a bombshell.

A Liberal senator has questioned whether GP practices in the bush should be abolished and their services taken over by public hospitals.

Senator Hollie Hughes raised the highly controversial idea at a hearing of a Senate inquiry into general practice in Emerald, Queensland.

She later told News Corp she was intrigued to learn that the local public hospital in Emerald had no trouble attracting doctors because they got paid a 45 per cent loading and had accommodation and cars provided.

Private GP practices, however, told the inquiry they could not get staff.

One option proposed to the inquiry was to make conditions in rural general practice more attractive so doctors could take holidays.

Senator Hughes said GPs were small businesses and other small businesses did not get these types of support to stay viable.

Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes has raised the prospect of scrapping rural GPs. Picture: AAP

The inquiry has received over 200 submissions with doctors speaking out about the poor remuneration and structure in primary health care.

Senator Hughes said she was not interested in the inquiry becoming a “woe fest” and instead wanted to find genuine solutions that’s why she asked the question about abolishing private practice.

Last week the Senator caused controversy when she blamed doctors for the fact medical graduates no longer wanted to train to be GPs.

She said a Melbourne practice manager’s plea for more staff was “offensive”, and said she found the whole inquiry “to be completely self-serving”.

“I am honestly a little bit perplexed at the expectation that government can somehow be a panacea and solve this problem, when it seems to be that, within the medical profession itself, there is a fundamental cultural issue, a bias against GPs,” Ms Hughes said.

“Current GPs are not doing anything to facilitate a boost in that by talking up their own profession or seeming to be proud of it,” she said.

Australian Medical Association president Dr Omar Khorshid. Picture: Supplied

Australian Medical Association president Dr Omar Khorshid said it was “disrespectful of general practitioners to describe the inquiry as a woe fest”.

“The reality of general practice in Australia is that there are access issues there for patients and GPs who are generally pretty altruistic people provide care for free in many cases,” he said.

There are a huge workforce shortages right across Australia and even where financially attractive packages were on offer money alone was not enough.

“They still can’t attract for a variety of reasons, including lack of social supports, lack of education options for children, lack of work options for spouses, and of course all the professional isolation issues and these are real issues out there,” he said.

Doctors increasingly have professional spouses and they make decisions in the interest of their families,” he said.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Dr Karen Price described Senator Hughes’ comments as “extraordinary”.

“Attacking the people who are trying to help is really challenging,” she said.

Doctors were not “whingers” and the RACGP had given the government and the Senate inquiry a detailed 10-year-plan to reform general practice it was up to the government to enact it, she said.

The controversial idea was raised at a Senate inquiry into GP’s in Emerald, Queensland.

Opposition health spokesman Mark Butler said it was “an extraordinary proposal from the Morrison Government to rip GP services out of regional and rural Australia”.

“Australians rely on their local GPs but instead the Morrison Government wants patients to end up in already overwhelmed emergency departments,” he said..

“This Government cut the bulk-billing incentive payment to local GPs and froze GPs pay for six years. Scott Morrison’s Government wants to cut access to Medicare at any chance it gets.” he said.

Federal Regional Health Minister, Dr David Gillespie said “the views conveyed by Senator Hughes do not represent the views of the Federal Government”.

“The Morrison Joyce Government is strongly focused on improving access to GPs and health professionals for country patients, as well as increasing Medicare billing and other incentives to make regional, rural and remote practice more appealing to doctors.

“The Federal Government’s $550 million 10-year Stronger Rural Health Strategy is continuing to give doctors more opportunities to train and practice in regional, rural and remote Australia.

“After the first 2 years, more than 700 additional GPs and 700 additional nurses FTEs are working in country Australia.

“In the 2021-22 Budget, we injected a further $123 million for a Health Workforce Reform package to further boost the number of doctors, nurses and allied health professionals working in the regions.”

Originally published as Liberal Senator questions whether rural GP services should be taken over by public hospitals