PRESS RELEASE: Medical Specialist group warns of emerging workforce crisis in regional Australia

REGIONAL MEDICAL SPECIALISTS ASSOCIATION CALLS FOR ACTION ON WORKFORCE

The Regional Medical Specialists Association (RMSA) has issued a call for urgent action on Medical Specialist services in Regional Australia.

People living in regional Australia depend upon medical specialists as well as GPs. The Medical Specialist workforce in regional Australia is under continuing and increasing threat.

This requires action by Commonwealth, specialist training institutions, State and Local Government:
• The Commonwealth needs to streamline its processes for allowing Internationally-Qualified Health Practitioners (IQHPs) to gain entry into and registration in Australia;
• Commonwealth and States must ensure that areas of medical workforce shortages are identified as and when they occur;
• Training institutions and rural communities must ensure that training and working as a medical specialist in Regional Australia is seen to be attractive and rewarding.

 
Background

The RMSA was created in response to the chronic imbalance of medical specialist workforce between metropolitan cities and regional centres. This imbalance is worsening, not improving.

The Commonwealth’s responsibilities
An independent review of health practitioner regulatory settings was undertaken by Robyn Kruk AO. This report, endorsed by National Cabinet in December 2023, concludes that,
“…removing unnecessary regulatory barriers faced by IQHPs will improve care for Australians”.

The RMSA does not believe that international medical graduates are a permanent solution. However, urgent action is needed now to prevent any further degradation of rural health services.

Responsibilities of Specialist Colleges
The Medical Board of Australia, in response to the Kruk report, has consulted the Specialist Colleges to identify which overseas qualifications are suitable for ‘fast-tracking’ of applications by IQHPs. Good-faith responses are needed, and quickly. If the Specialist Colleges do not give guidance in this process it will happen without them.

In addition, the training colleges should set hard targets for the numbers of trainees in rural areas. Medical specialist training should involve at least a year at a rural/regional location – ideally a third of the trainee’s time; proportionate to the population distribution. Training in rural settings is proven to increase numbers of medical graduates working in non-Metropolitan locations.

States’ responsibilities
At the state level, more needs to be done to boost the financial viability and management expertise in rural hospitals. Public-private partnerships should be used more than they currently are to support specialist services in rural Australia. The Commonwealth and the States should ensure that methods for identifying medical workforce shortages are accurate and timely.

Local community responses
At the local community level, more effort is needed to make Regional and Rural centres more
attractive to newly-arrived medical trainees and specialists. This happens in some rural areas, but is not widespread.

Financial implications
The RMSA is not calling for financial incentives for individual doctors: this has been tried and failed. Rather, we call for better supports for trainees and specialists moving from metropolitan areas to regional centres. The cost of this support should be seen as investments in rural communities, for the benefit of all Australians.