Doctors from three countries fast-tracked to treat Australian patients

Foreign doctors from select countries will be fast-tracked to treat patients in Australia after the nation’s health ministers gave the green light to a plan to address workforce shortages, despite pleas from medical colleges to delay the rollout.

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler and his state counterparts wrote to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency this month recommending the watchdog proceed with its proposal to overhaul the accreditation process for overseas doctors.

Doctors from the UK, Ireland and New Zealand will be fast-tracked to work in Australia in changes designed to address nationwide GP shortages.

It means that from October 21, general practitioners who are qualified in Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom will be able to apply for specialist registration with AHPRA without being assessed by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

In a notice to be published on its website on Monday night, the watchdog said all three qualifications had been proposed by the college as being substantially comparable to what would be required of a doctor specialising as a GP in Australia.

But the college’s president, Dr Nicole Higgins, said one in five GPs with those qualifications were assessed as not being suitable to practise in Australia either because of communication or professionalism issues, or because they required additional training.

She said the decision by AHPRA to bypass the colleges meant the onus was now on it to ensure those doctors were safe to treat patients.

Qualifications accepted through the new pathway from October 21:

• Membership of the Irish College of General Practitioners from 2009 and a Certificate of Satisfactory Completion of Specialist Training
• Fellowship of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners from 2012
• Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners (United Kingdom) from 2007 and a Certificate of Completion of Training.

“Australia is a very different health system to what people come [from], and we want to make sure that those doctors are set up for success,” Higgins said.

“The biggest concern for us is ensuring that these doctors have professional support and education to make sure that they adapt to the Australian context and maintain patient safety.”

Doctors on the accelerated pathway will need to meet the same proficiency, language and criminal history standards as all other doctors registered in Australia. They will also be supervised for six months by a registered specialist, undergo an orientation into Australia’s health system and complete mandatory cultural safety education.

Health Minister Mark Butler said Australia’s strong safety standards would not be compromised by the changes.

“For too long, highly trained doctors from countries like the UK, Ireland and New Zealand – which have similar high-standard training as Australia – are left waiting on red-tape approvals before they are able to work,” he said.

“This fast-tracked pathway will make it easier for overseas doctors, who have the skills we need in our health system, to start working in Australia.”

More than 300 GPs from the UK, Ireland and New Zealand apply to work in Australia every year. The change means these doctors will not have to pay training and assessment fees to the college, which can be upwards of $12,000.

Accelerating the registration process for overseas doctors was a key recommendation of a 2023 review of the regulation by retired public servant Robyn Kruk.

Doctors trained overseas were projected to overtake domestic graduates in the GP workforce by 2033, Higgins said.

GPs are the first specialty to benefit from the pathway. Overseas anaesthetists, psychiatrists, obstetricians and gynaecologists will be able to apply directly to AHPRA from December.

In a letter sent to AHPRA after the health ministers’ meeting this month, the acting chair, Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas, urged the watchdog to “continue to work closely” with the medical colleges as it rolled out the changes.

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