The Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) has welcomed NSW Budget measures to improve primary health access and processes, but is disappointed at missed opportunities to rebuild the GP workforce and improve access to care.
The NSW 2025–26 Budget includes significant investment in secondary care, but little for general practice to keep patients healthy and reduce hospitalisations – despite clear being provided efficient measures to grow state's specialist GP workforce and support rural patients to access care in the RACGP NSW Pre-Budget Submission 2025–2026.
NSW lags behind other states in GP training, particularly in New England and the rural and remote west of the state. In its budget submission, the RACGP called for:
- $9.27 million to fund locum GPs to provide care for patients in remote areas when GPs are absent or on leave
- incentives for GP training; while Federal investment will incentivise GP training generally from 2026, this will not specifically target NSW's rural areas of need
- $20 million per year to fund vulnerable patients to receive free vaccination to protect against meningococcal B, which can cause death or lifelong disability, with each infection prevented potentially saving $10 million.
The RACGP has also called on NSW to ensure GPs are supported in disasters like the NSW floods and other emergencies so they can care for patients and practices can reopen as soon as possible. Reforms would also enable GPs to complete their education and training in rural areas if they choose, from medical school to qualification as specialist GPs.
RACGP NSW&ACT Chair Dr Rebekah Hoffman said her state needs more GPs, now and in the future.
"The best way to keep people healthy and out of hospital is to fund preventive care delivered by GPs," she said.
"New South Wales could have done significantly more here, particularly through low-cost measures that deliver high value for patients in the long term. It's a big spend, but a lot of missed opportunities, too.
"Our population is ageing and needs more long-term care by GPs who know them and their history. And while Sydney and other major metro areas have a significant number of GPs, our rural centres and towns do not.
"I recently visited New England, and even big centres like Tamworth and Armidale are crying out for support. There are measures in this budget to address other health worker shortages, but the whole health system crumbles if patients can't access a GP when they need one.
"The NSW Government can improve access to GPs for our rural and regional communities by further incentivising GPs to train there. Enabling more rural medical education at its universities will also boost access. Medical students from rural backgrounds are four times more likely to practise rurally, and GPs practise where they learn and train.
"Ensuring GPs hit by disasters like the floods in Taree and Forster this year can get back to treating patients as soon as possible is increasingly necessary, as we've seen from this and past natural disasters. You shouldn't need your local MP to intervene to get the power back on.
"We will continue to call for smart solutions to address GP workforce issues, and to keep people safe from preventable illness like meningitis through vaccination."
Nonetheless, Dr Hoffman welcomed infrastructure investment and reductions in general practices' payroll tax burden.
"The $104 million the NSW Government saved GPs in payroll tax is a cost that would otherwise be borne by our patients in higher fees and reduced bulk billing, so it's welcome," she said.
"The NSW Government could do more to support affordable and accessible general practice care and bulk billing by adopting a full exemption, as Queensland has done.
"Increased support to help our patients navigate workers' compensation is welcome. A system should help workers who can return to work to do so safely and with strong support, not add to their stress.
"Investment to modernise our hospitals is also welcome. It's vital this includes upgrades to how hospitals communicate with GPs – no one should be using faxes in 2025 or 2026.
"Modern communication systems that ensure we know as soon as possible when one of our patients has been to hospital will mean GPs can ensure they recover well.
"Research shows if specialist GPs see patients who have had unplanned hospital admissions within seven days, they are less likely to go back to hospital. Lumos data from New South Wales has shown that visiting a GP shortly after an unplanned hospital admission can reduce readmissions by up to 32%.
"Patients and GPs need systems that work with general practice software and discharge summaries to be sent to us as a priority. It shouldn't be up to a patient to bring in a paper copy when they schedule a follow-up appointment."
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