Federal Member for Dobell, Emma McBride, has joined calls for a Senate Inquiry to be held to investigate GP shortages in regional areas like the Central Coast.
Led by Shadow Minister for Health, Mark Butler, and Senator Nita Green, Labor is now seeking an inquiry into the lack of doctors across regional and rural Australia.
“The Coast has been battling a critical lack of GPs for far too long,” McBride said.
“Patients are being forced to wait weeks for routine appointments, practices are closing their books and they’re being overwhelmed by lengthy cancellation lists.
“We need a Senate Inquiry to investigate and come up with practical solutions to fix this.”
The proposed inquiry would investigate acute GP shortages in regional and rural communities like the Coast, as well as reforms to Distribution Priority Areas (DPA) and GP training.
McBride said under the Government’s current classification system, most of the Central Coast is considered a non-DPA which means it’s harder to access more GPs.
“I’ve been calling for the Government to recognise the Coast as a priority for a long time now, but my calls continue to fall on deaf ears,” Ms. McBride said.
“It’s time to shed light on the impact their decision has had on our region.
“Coasties deserve access to timely and quality health care.”
Source:
Media release, Aug 4
Member for Dobell, Emma McBride
GP Shortage ! Good on you Emma ! The coast is growing yet GP, s are declining??? The coast has many elderly and retired and needs to have a doctor to trust . Not having to spend half of the day sitting in a waiting room , with flue and Covid like patients .