Key Points
A Rebecca White Labor Government will work with our doctors in general practice for a better future.
We need to invest in primary care to keep Tasmanians healthy and out of hospital.
As part of our plan to support general practice, Labor will:
- Attract 40 new GPs to practice in regional Tasmania.
- Upskill 50 GPs with Emergency Care Training
- Protect Tasmanians from $15-20 increases by ruling out a GP payroll tax
- Allow families to access ADHD support and medication through GPs
- Create a GP Workforce Plan for Tasmania
- Employ 18 rural generalist doctors in our regional hospitals
- Provide rural generalist training at the Mersey Community Hospital
Why we need it
After 10 years of the Liberal Government, we have seen many GPs clinics overwhelmed and worked to exhaustion without any support or responsibility from the Liberal Government.
Labor will work collaboratively with our general practice workforce to meet the current challenges and support more Tasmanians with access to quality care.
There has never been a more important time for State Governments to invest in primary care. With an aging population, high level of chronic disease and workforce shortages there is an increasing burden on our hospitals.
“Labor understands reducing the burden on our hospitals means investment in primary care and our GPs”
Reducing the burden on hospitals requires investment in primary care. Well-resourced and supported GPs keep Tasmanians healthy and out of hospital.
The details
Labor’s Plan will:
1. Attract 40 new GPs to Tasmania
A Rebecca White Labor Government will fund training for qualified doctors from overseas to train in Tasmania through the well regarded RACGP Fellowship Support Program.
Labor will provide $40k to candidates partaking in the program each year for two years if they commit to working in a rural or regional practice for two years following.
Evidence shows that junior doctors who train in rural and remote regions are more likely to choose to live in those areas making funding training in rural and remote areas both a short- and long-term solution.
This initiative has already been supported by the Victorian Government with a big increase in GPs choosing to train there.
This commitment is funded for $880k/pa for four years.
2. Upskill 50 GPs with Emergency Care Training
Labor will fund 50 regional doctors in emergency care skills, so they can provide better emergency care in their communities
The training will be provided through the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) and doctors can undertake advanced training with flexible hours.
Funding will include subsidising fellow doctors while undertaking the training.
The total cost will be $2m.
3. Protect Tasmanians from $15-20 increases by ruling out a GP payroll tax
Labor will act decisively in the first 100 days by ruling out a GP payroll tax. This will prevent making visits to the doctor more expensive. We will ensure that a ruling is provided to exempt GPs from payroll tax.
Labor’s commitment to no GP tax will:
- Ensure GPs do not have to pass on a $15-20 increase for consultations.
- Prevent more general practice closures.
- Prevent a further decline in bulk billing in Tasmania.
- Mean less pressure on emergency departments.
- Allow families to access ADHD support and medication through GPs
ADHD is the most prevalent neurodevelopment disorder in Australia, estimated at over 10% of children.
There are over 3000 children waiting to see paediatricians who are fully occupied supplying scripts to already diagnosed children.
Labor will follow other states who have introduced models of shared care with GPs to provide timely assessment and treatment.
We will introduce similar models of care to be supported by legislation allowing co-prescribing with GPs and longer mandatory review periods in stable patients.
4. Create a GP Workforce Plan for Tasmania
Labor Government will convene a strategic roundtable with the Federal Government, the AMA, the RACGP, and the University of Tasmania to develop a General Practice Work Force Plan for Tasmania focussed on rebuilding the GP workforce and improving bulk billing rates.
5. Employ 18 rural generalist doctors in our regional hospitals
Labor’s plan for regional health care includes the employment of 18 additional rural generalist doctors to work in the 18 regional health facilities.
To incentivise these positions, we will offer to pay the HECS debt or provide a $20k superannuation boost to doctors who agree to work in the hospitals for at least 3 years.
6. Provide rural generalist training at the Mersey Community Hospital
Labor will deliver a training program at the Mersey Hospital for rural generalists to partake in their practical component training.
What doctors say about our policy
“When a practice can’t find a general practitioner to take over when a GP retires, it simply has to close.
Many of my GP colleagues are thinking about retirement – around one in every three GPs is planning to retire in the next five years, according to our 2023 Health of the Nation report. Meanwhile, we’ve seen story after story about essential practices facing closure because they can’t meet their workforce needs.
Funding the Fellowship Support Program gives those GPs more opportunities to find a successor and retire, sure that their community will be well-served.
This is a good move, and cost-effective at only $880,000 per year to train 20 new GPs. We have seen a big response to Victoria’s incentive of up to $40,000 for doctors to train as GPs, with a big increase in the number of GPs training there after that grant was announced. We know this kind of incentive works.
We also know that registrars and other health professionals build strong bonds to the communities they train in – doctors who train in rural regions are more likely to choose to live in those areas long-term. In a rural town, that can mean the difference between a strong community and one that struggles to assure older residents and young families that they’ll have a local GP.
It’s an excellent investment and a great commitment by Tasmanian Labor.”
- Dr Toby Gardner, RACGP Tasmanian Chair
“This $2 million investment will upskill 50 Tasmanian doctors with emergency medicine skills – and help support them while they’re studying.
It will give more Tasmanians access to better, closer emergency healthcare – whether they live in the city, the bush, or on the coast.”
- Dr Juan Carlos Ascencio-Lane, ACEM Tasmania Chair