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Chance to address Victoria’s acute doctor shortage
AMA Victorian President, Dr Mark Yates today warned that rural Victorians would be unfairly disadvantaged under proposed changes to the funding formula for rural health programs.
Dr Yates today called upon the state and federal governments to reconsider key aspects of the proposed changes to the rural, remote and metropolitan areas (RRMA) classification system.
“If this new classification system is implemented it would have an adverse impact upon the ability of rural and remote areas to recruit and retain a health workforce, which, as we know, is already a major issue for country Victoria.
“AMA Victoria supports a system that would more closely align funding to identified health needs.
AMA Victoria with the Rural Workforce Agency of Victoria (RWAV) supports a funding method that identifies the following location characteristics as being valid for inclusion in a new classification system:
- total population
- aboriginal population
- rurality
- socio economics
- health, well-being and illness indicators, and
- access to health workforce.
“Whilst distance undoubtedly impacts upon the cost of providing health services, by making it a key determinant in the funding formula ensures that it overwhelms other more important and relevant factors such as population ill-health indicators and access to health workforce,” Dr Yates said.
“The Victorian government needs to recognise the impact these changes will have on our rural communities and negotiate with the Commonwealth Government to ensure that Victorians are not more disadvantaged than they currently are.
“There are 1138 doctors currently working in rural Victoria as a result of these programs and still we have severe shortages of GPs in many areas,” Dr Yates said.
“Victoria needs more doctors not less. GPs in many areas of the state, metropolitan and rural, are struggling to keep up with their patients needs. This commonwealth funding formula is an opportunity to address this shortage and the health disadvantage of many Victorians.
Table: Number of GPs by RRMA and ASGC categories, Rural Victoria, Nov 2004
|
Number of GPs
|
Inner Regional Victoria
|
Outer Regional Victoria
|
Remote Victoria
|
Total
|
% of Total
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RRMA 3
|
231
|
|
|
231
|
20.3%
|
|
RRMA 4
|
234
|
82
|
|
316
|
27.8%
|
|
RRMA 5
|
468
|
114
|
1
|
583
|
51.2%
|
|
RRMA 7
|
|
6
|
2
|
8
|
0.7%
|
|
Total GPs
|
933
|
202
|
3
|
1138
|
100.0
|
|
% of total
|
82.0%
|
17.8%
|
0.3%
|
100.0
|
|
Under RRMA in Victoria,
RRMA 1 = Melbourne
RRMA 2 = Geelong
RRMA 3= Wodonga, Shepparton, Ballarat and Bendigo
RRMA 4= Various locations
RRMA 5= Various locations
RRMA 6= There are no RRMA 6 locations in Victoria
RRMA 7= Various locations
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