Rural patients could have greater access to general practice care for less than $3 million per year under a Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) budget proposal.
The Pathways to Rural program would fund GPs from major cities to spend four weeks per year providing care in the country, allowing them to trial rural general practice, build ongoing relationships with patients and communities, and train in the medical skills they most need.
For practices unable to source enough specialist GPs to meet community needs or cover staff during leave and illness, Pathways to Rural would cut the cost of expensive locum support, which harms practice viability and contributes to closures. It would also reduce burnout among the rural GP workforce.
The program would deliver an additional 600 weeks of additional specialist GP care for rural communities every year.
RACGP President Dr Michael Wright, who is in Canberra this week with around 20 GPs from across Australia, said the proposal has been met with enthusiasm.
"When we've brought up Pathways to Rural with MPs and senators in Canberra, they've been really supportive," he said.
"It makes sense to them – it's easy to see the benefit of patients in their electorates receiving continuity of care from the same specialist GP, and for the GPs in their communities to be able to take time off when they're ill or simply need a well-earned break. It's a low-cost proposal with clear benefits.
"Specialist GPs want to do this, too. If you're a GP in the city, moving to practise rurally can mean uprooting your whole life, as well as travel expenses and extra training. Pathways to Rural would cover those costs so rural practices don't have to, while giving more GPs an opportunity to give rural practice a go.
"Forming relationships with patients and communities will mean they can potentially continue to provide care to their new rural patients via telehealth, or make providing care in these communities a more permanent thing.
"There's real enthusiasm for this idea, including from many conversations we have had in Canberra. For a relatively small amount of health funding this, has the potential for fantastic long-term results."
If implemented, the Pathways to Rural program would save the healthcare system at least $4.4 million per year from reduced use of locum doctors, whose costs are higher due to the ad-hoc nature of their work.
The $2.3–2.8 million annual outlay would cover travel costs, as well as training for the participating GPs.
RACGP Rural Chair Associate Professor Michael Clements said the new skills participating GPs would bring to communities are another upside of the program.
"Bringing new skills to a community that match what it needs has enormous potential to improve access to care," he said.
"The idea is that rural practices tell us what they need, and city GPs tell us what their interests are. We match them up and Pathways to Rural funds their travel and any training required to meet those needs.
"Rural practices are often in areas with limited access to secondary care. Training could include things like specific chronic disease management, reproductive care including IUD insertions, or ADHD diagnosis and management.
"All GPs can provide rural healthcare – rural placement is part of our training for the vast majority of GPs.
"Rural patients receive $8.35 billion less in healthcare funding each year than those in cities, a $1090 gap per person. The result is patients living shorter lives with higher levels of disease and injury.
"This is about seeing what rural communities need, and meeting those needs while giving patients a familiar face they will be able to see again via telehealth, at their next visit, or in some cases, when the GP moves to the community part-time or permanently.
"It's relationship building that'll give city GPs an opportunity to dip their toes into rural practice, and give rural practices someone who they know they can call on when they need help."
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