UK - Trained GPs ready to help us.

It seems that help for our GP workforce shortage problem is waiting in the wings - or could be, if the powers that be would allow it. 

We have received the following email from Mr Ron Crause, Chairman of the Australian Association of Medical Recruitment Agencies (AAMRA).

"I have read your submission to Mr Rudd. We at AAMRA would be most supportive of your initiatives. I thought I would also bring to your attention that the last federal government introduced, under Mr Abbot a program in 2004, called Strengthening Medicare which has been very successful in bringing in over 600 GPs into Australia during this period. This program has not been renewed by the current government even though tenders went out for it in December 2007. Submissions have been made to Ms Roxon to entreat her to continue the program but without any success.  With the current economic downturn in the UK we have the opportunity to get some really good UK trained GP’s and the continuation of this program or anything similar would also help."

So, Mr. Rudd and Ms. Roxon, what is the go here? Is there some really good reason that that this program has not been continued? If there is, please tell it to us - and especially our rural colleagues.

Recruiting GPs from a developed nation such as the UK avoids the ethical dilemma of taking doctors from countries that can ill-afford to train them in the first place, never mind then losing them to wealthier countries.

More Media Interest

The media remains interested in our campaign on the GP workforce shortage and provider number issue, in the wake of the 'response' from Mr. Rudd's office (the link to which is in the previous post).

Steve Austin gave us airtime on ABC radio (612) on Tuesday, at 7.35 after the news.

Adam Cresswell, the Health Editor for The Australian on August 23 also featured our story (for the second time). His article is HERE. His article from July 11 is HERE.

Kevin Rudd's Response.

Well, we did get a response from Mr. Rudd's office.

It is HERE.

A not-very-useful response as it turns out.

It fills up space by repeating our own comments, and fills up more space repeating the same old 'solutions'.
I would like to suggest to the powers that be that the strategies outlined in the letter are
(a) optimistic in the extreme, given that they are based on the hope/wish/expectation that the great increase in medical students will magically result in an increased number of GPs. Two immediate potential sticking points come to mind. (i) a large percentage of the new number of students are from overseas and (ii) there is absolutely no evidence that general practice is going to attract many of them at all. We are leaving the profession in droves. There may be no-one left to run the training program.
(b) even if they have some chance of success, they are long-term strategies, and the situation is urgent.

Also, Mr Rudd - strategies that depend on nurses are great in theory, but - there is a shortage of nurses too!