Transcript - Interview: Dr Bill Glasson, AMA, National Press Club Address
E & OE - PROOF ONLY
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CHAIR: Dr Glasson, thank you very much. As usual we have a period of questions. They begin today with one from Ben Rouse*.
QUESTION: Hi, Ben Rouse from The West Australian. Given the mal-distribution of doctors in Australia, what can be done to encourage them to move from leafy suburbs to outer metropolitan and rural areas?
And, in regard to your call for increased Medicare rebates, what is a fair annual take-home salary for a GP?
DR GLASSON: Thanks Ben. First of all, on the mal-distribution of workforce, as you know, the government's sort of, previous governments have indicated that they felt that we had enough doctors, they were just distributed incorrectly.
The reality is that we've got both - we've got insufficient doctors and there is still a mal-distribution.
How do we encourage people in the bush? I'd always say that the best way is, and like I did, I was born in the bush so they trained me for the bush. They trained me in the bush. Now they didn't marry me in the bush, but I think it's important that, to ensure that doctors stay in the bush, you must consider the spouse.
And in so many examples where doctors go out, they're comfortable in the position in the bush, but what they find is their spouse, who might have another profession, who cannot be carried out in that particular town, leave because the spouse is dissatisfied.
So I do feel that we've got to have positive incentives to, I suppose, get doctors out in the bush in the long-term. But the reality is that the likes of the JCU Medical School in Townsville, where they have students there who are actually born and bred in provincial towns, born and bred in country towns, they train out in those country towns, and hopefully they'll marry in those country towns. That will go a long way to solving our problem.
We need to support our bush doctors in many other ways, as far as sufficient relief, as far as continuing education, and also around making sure that the kids have adequate opportunity to go to appropriate schools.
So, it is complex, but I think a lot of what's been put in place already but the current government, once it translates, I think it's gonna have a very positive effect.
On the second question, what should a doctor earn? I mean, that's a very open question, because at the end of the day, you're running a small business, and I suppose you argue what should a small business earn?
All I can tell you is that to be a doctor these days, you need to commit probably 15 to 20 years from when you finish schooling - particularly if you're going to become an advanced specialist in a certain area. You could be studying for 20 years before you're actually, you know, able to establish as an independent private practitioner.
If you said to me, what's - and a GPs. I think that's good, cause I just think that if you pay a dollar or $2, you value the service, you value the people providing the service and you value the people at the front line at the desk.
And so, I think we should all think - put our hand in the pocket and put out a dollar, and say - and I've got one of my colleagues in Brisbane especially who charges $1 over Medicare - just a dollar. He said, 'I put a dollar - I feel as though I'm worth something. If I don't put anything on it, I feel as though I might as well be on John's payroll for superannuation and holiday leave and all the rest of it.'
So I think that to answer your question, there is a few out there, I agree. We're watching it closely. We've been up watching the figures. But if it looks like to be any major trend, we'll be the first - as the profession, we'll be the first to come down on its own group. So it should be.
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