Too much money going towards large regional centres and not enough to smaller towns to lure more doctors has led to changes to the government’s GP incentive scheme.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
And Young is one of the 450 rural and regional towns that will benefit, with greater incentives to attract GPs coming its way from July 1.
Assistant Minister for Health Fiona Nash this week announced the GP Rural Incentives Program (GPRIP) has been “overhauled and is much fairer” for smaller rural communities.
The changes mean money will be redirected to send more doctors to regional towns that have genuine difficulty attracting and retaining doctors.
“It makes more sense to use that money to attract doctors to where the greatest shortages are - small rural and remote communities, not big regional cities,” Senator Nash said.
“This means bigger incentive payments will go to doctors who choose to work in the areas of greatest need.”
Incentives for doctors to work in regional towns like Young, Cowra and Cootamundra, with populations between 5000 and 15,000, will increase from $12,000 to $18,000.
The maximum incentive to work in a town less than 5000 people - like Boorowa, Harden-Murrumburrah and Grenfell - will go from $12,000 to $23,000.
The highest incentive paid to work in remote Australia will jump from $47,000 a year to $60,000 a year.
Doctors will also need to stay in a rural or regional area longer - two years up from the current six months - before they receive the incentive.
Senator Nash said under the old system, some $50 million a year was being used to pay incentives for doctors to live in 14 large regional cities, including Townsville, with a population of 175,000, and Cairns, a population of 145,000.
The system created incentives for doctors to remain in well-serviced cities which had little trouble attracting doctors.
The new GP rural incentive payment will not be available to doctors working in the 14 large regional cities with a population of more than 50,000.
“We’ve taken money which was being used to attract doctors to cities like Cairns and Townsville and we’re using it to get doctors to towns like Cowra and Cobram,” Senator Nash said.
An independent expert panel consulted with stakeholders before compiling a report for the minister, using the new Modified Monash Model to classify rural and regional towns and cities.
Young District Medical Centre manager David Kay said there were concerns and appeals made when Young had been classified under the same remoteness group as Wagga, Orange and Dubbo.
But Senator Nash’s office confirmed the incentives attracting doctors to these centres, or areas with populations around 30,000-40,000, will not increase.
“Time will be the judge as to the success of this announcement, but it seems to be a step in the right direction,” Mr Kay said.