Shepparton News
Tuesday, 20th September 2011
by Darren Linton
Shepparton is one of several urban centres in the region no longer considered short of doctors.
However, the change of classification removes access to incentives to recruit doctors, leading to concern the region will be disadvantaged.
Federal Member for Murray Sharman Stone said the Commonwealth no longer classified Shepparton, Mooroopna, Murchison, Nagambie, Nathalia, Numurkah, Kialla and Tatura as having a district workforce shortage of general practitioners.
Dr Stone queried how the Labor Government could justify pouring millions of dollars into building new health care facilities in Shepparton while making a decision that made it more difficult to recruit doctors.
She said a bout 90 per cent of GPs attracted to the region last year would have been less likely to be recruited without the incentives .
‘‘They have determined that we have enough doctors in Shepparton and will no longer be eligible for incentives to recruit doctors,’’ Dr Stone said. ‘‘I’m on the case, I’m trying very hard to get (Federal Health Minister) Nicola Roxon to decide that she’s got it wrong.’’
Regions where GPs are in short supply benefit from the ability to recruit overseas-trained or qualified doctors with a guarantee they can immediately access a Medicare provider number. Overseas doctors can take up work in areas deemed to have sufficient practitioners, but they don’t have access to Medicare .
Dr Stone said the regional towns taken off the list would have reached a ‘‘technical’’ threshold, which did not necessarily mean there were enough doctors to meet the regions medical needs.
‘‘We also look after a wider region, so you just can’t look at Shepparton and say we have X number of doctors and that’s enough,’’ Dr Stone said.
‘‘We are also very very short of specialists. The problem for us is where are we going to recruit those doctors.
It will make us uncompetitive.’’
Dr Stone said the classification did not take into account special needs and demands such as Shepparton’s large Indigenous and refugee populations.