Implement health workforce plan, AMA tells Government

The AMA was at a health workforce round table meeting in Canberra this week, convened by Minister for Health and Aged Care the Hon. Mark Butler MP. 

Ahead of the meeting, the AMA outlined its main focus to address problems in the medical workforce:  growing the health workforce, retaining our current workforce and increasing equity in access to healthcare through a better distribution.

AMA President Professor Steve Robson told the meeting the AMA supports the National Health Workforce strategy and called on the government to prioritise its implementation.

“This strategy was years in the making, and it now must be funded and implemented as a matter of urgency, with data driven medical workforce supply and demand modelling needed as a priority,” Professor Robson said.

“The modelling will guide medical student and doctor in training numbers ensuring they are in line with community need. If this recommends changes to medical school intakes, or training numbers for specialities forecast to be in under or over supply, we should follow them.” 

Professor Robson told the ABC’s AM program the pandemic had shown us that you can't have a healthy economy without healthy Australians, and that means a healthy workforce.

“We want incentive programs that'll encourage more medical graduates to go into general practice, particularly in remote and regional areas. It's going to mean working conditions, it's going to mean remuneration, it's going to mean respect from the government to make it a job that people want to do. The same needs to be applied to public hospitals to make them more attractive workplace as well.” 

Professor Robson said a public hospital funding boost with 50-50 uncapped funding from the State and Federal Governments would also help to address workforce pressures in the public system and provide better access to care for patients.

“We know it will free up some funds for the states to build the extra beds, employ the extra staff and fix our hospital crisis — a crisis that was developing well before COVID-19 hit Australia. Failure to address the current public hospital and primary care crises before recruitment for 2023 will force more healthcare staff out of the system due to stress and burnout. This ultimately impacts on access to care.

“The decision by the government to proceed with cuts to key Medicare funded telehealth items implemented during the pandemic is exacerbating patient access issues and disproportionately affecting some of the most vulnerable Australians, including those in rural and remote areas.

“We must improve access to services for patients by removing barriers to using MBS funded telehealth, particularly by expanding the availability of telephone consultations,” Professor Robson said.

The AMA’s comprehensive strategy addressing health workforce issues includes: 

• promoting a career in general practice by growing prevocational training opportunities in general practice and improving employment conditions for General Practice Registrars so they match their hospital-based colleagues
• expanding the Commonwealth Government’s Specialist Training Program to 1700 places over the next term of Government, giving priority to rural areas, generalist training and specialties that are under-supplied. 
• investing in regional teaching hospitals to ensure they have sufficient capacity to host STP-funded non-GP specialist registrars.
• implementing the National Rural Generalist Pathway nationally, and a commitment to ongoing funding.
• encouraging end-to-end rural medical training programs, with a view to ensuring they provide positive rural exposure and lead to retention of rural medical practitioners.
• expanding capacity for remote learning (training and educational opportunities, especially for trainees in regional/rural sites, and potential remote supervision); and 
• promoting regional training and research teaching hospital hubs to grow non-GP specialist capacity outside metropolitan areas.