The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has welcomed today’s decision to establish the role of the National Rural Health Commissioner as part of improving the health of people living in regional and rural Australia.
RACGP President Dr Bastian Seidel said a National Rural Health Commissioner is a positive step forward in improving the quality of health care delivered to the people of regional and rural Australia.
“More than 30 per cent of Australians live and work in rural Australia yet rural Australians receive far less than 30 per cent of health funding,” Dr Seidel said.
“The Rural Health Commissioner must lead the development of an equitable funding model to support rural patients, not just for health care but also to address the social determinants of health.”
Dr Seidel said he had discussed with Federal Health Assistant Minister David Gillespie the type of candidate the RACGP thought should take up the Rural Health Commissioner role and the priorities this position must focus on.
“The RACGP believes this role should go to an experienced rural GP with a good understanding of national rural workforce issues,” Dr Seidel said.
“It is important that the Rural Health Commissioner understands that patient-centred approaches to care can lead to improvements in safety, quality and cost-effectiveness.
“This person must also understand and promote the benefits that Digital Health can bring to rural communities.”
Dr Seidel said the Rural Health Commissioner should be a GP who champions the cause of rural general practice.
“Participation in the rural health workforce across medical specialties and allied health must be promoted by the Rural Health Commissioner,” Dr Seidel said.
“They should also lead strategies to monitor and address workforce misdistribution through strengthened national planning and training policies that ensure doctors are training to deliver care where it is needed, alongside targeted incentive aligned to addressing workforce and retention barriers in rural and remote communities.”
Dr Seidel said a main priority for the Rural Health Commissioner must be to reduce the cost of living pressure on Australians living in regional and rural areas.
“Visiting a GP can cause significant financial pressure for many Australians living in regional and remote areas. Pressure which was amplified by the Medicare rebate freeze,” Dr Seidel said.
“The Rural Health Commissioner must make it their priority to reduce this unnecessary stress on Australians when they visit their GP.”
Chair of RACGP Rural Dr Ayman Shenouda said he expected the Rural Health Commissioner to work collaboratively with the RACGP to enhance broad rural health policies and training pathways.
“Recognising that rural communities need more than procedural GPs, the RACGP has expanded its rural training opportunities to include six other advanced rural skills in palliative care, mental health, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, child health, adult internal medicine and small town rural general practice” Dr Shenouda said.
“More recently we have expanded the scope of training of the Fellowship in Advanced Rural General Practice for GPs who are moving beyond whole-patient care to whole-of-community care including aspects of public health and advocacy.”
“Our rural communities need every one of us and the National Rural Health Commissioner needs to adequately support rural general practice,” Dr Shenouda said.
Dr Seidel said he was looking forward to the National Rural Health Commissioner establishing training pathways for GPs in rural and regional areas.
“A one size fits all approach to rural general practice training clearly does not work and it is essential that rural general practice training reflects flexibility and responsiveness to community needs,” Dr Seidel said.
“Congratulations to Minister Gillespie on leading the introduction of this significant legislation.”