Page 2343 - Week 07 - Thursday, 17 August 2006
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MR SPEAKER: Ms Porter, you have to come to the question.
MS PORTER: Can more be done to increase the number of GPs in the ACT?
MS GALLAGHER: I think more can be done. I have recently written to the Prime Minister and ACT Liberal Senator Gary Humphries to lobby them about the shortage of GPs in the ACT. I particularly wanted to point out the ACT’s disappointment that we did not receive any additional medical school places allocated to the ACT at the recent COAG meeting. There are strong arguments why we should see an increase in medical school placements in the ACT. The Canberra Hospital is the only tertiary-level referral hospital between Melbourne and Sydney. Medical students and junior doctors from the ACT are not merely Canberra based. They provide a full range of services to the New South Wales greater southern area, and with expanding populations in Queanbeyan and the south-eastern region of New South Wales the ACT expects demands for medical services to increase.
Also, the ACT has the lowest bulk-billing rates in the country and a chronic shortage of GPs. The last point is particularly important. Statistics published by Medicare Australia for the March quarter of 2006 show the bulk-billing rate in the ACT for GP services was 44.3 per cent, while the national average was 75.2 per cent. In the 2005 calendar year the three electorates with the lowest bulk-billing rates in the nation were Eden-Monaro, Fraser and Canberra. Increasing student numbers at ANU medical school will result in more clinical placements for each of these electorates.
The demographics of the ACT’s medical work force also provide powerful argument for additional medical student places. After the Northern Territory, the ACT has the second-highest percentage of female medical practitioners, at 36 per cent, compared with the national figure of 31 per cent. This has an impact, as female medical practitioners traditionally work fewer hours than their male colleagues. Nationally, the majority of medical practitioners are working fewer hours, with the average weekly number of hours dropping from 45.5 to 44.4 between 2000 and 2003. Also, medical practitioners in the ACT are the second-oldest in Australia next to Western Australian doctors—almost a year older than the Australian average—and 16 per cent of ACT’s visiting medical officers have indicated an intention to retire within the next five years.
The ANU medical school already has existing infrastructure, with the first graduates being available as interns in 2008. Without any increase in that infrastructure, the medical school could take an additional 10 students immediately. Another benefit for the medical students is ACT Health’s interprofessional learning program amongst its health professionals. This program allows health professionals—allied health, nursing and medical—to develop common competencies, undertake studies in certain subjects together and undertake clinical training as part of a team.
Mr Mulcahy: What about parking at Canberra Hospital for the poor students?
MR SPEAKER: Order, Mr Mulcahy!
MS GALLAGHER: Interprofessional learning allows each profession to understand the roles and skills of their professional colleagues, leading to better outcomes for their
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