Up to $50 million is being wasted sending doctors to cities under a program designed to benefit regional areas, figures obtained by the Harden Express reveal.
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The General Practice Rural Incentives Programme (GPRIP) instituted by the Labor Government in 2010 offers between $12,000 to $47,000 for GPs to relocate to regional and remote areas.
Figures obtained by the Express, though, show that $50 million is being spent on incentives for 5700 doctors working in cities with a population over 50,000.
Harden is classed as an RA2 (Inner Regional) area, so doctors relocating here are eligible for the minimum incentive of up to $12,000 over five years.
Wagga is also classed as an RA2 area though, meaning there is no financial incentive for doctors to come to smaller Riverina towns.
Hobart is another example of an RA2 area, whereas cities like Townsville and Cairns are both classified as RA3 (Outer Regional).
This means that a doctor could receive an $18,000 incentive to relocate to Townsville, with a population of more than 174,000, or $12,000 to relocate to Gundagai, with a population below 2000.
A spokesperson for Assistant Minister for Health Fiona Nash said the senator is “aware of the issues” with the GPRIP.
“Issues around the GPRIP are under serious consideration and the Minister will have more to say on the matter in coming weeks.”
Kruger Medical Centre practice manager S Jennifer Rahman agreed the program is not fulfilling its purpose for towns like Harden.
“We are not in the same state as Canberra, we are three hours from Sydney, it’s a rural town so if you want to bring a young doctor here the only thing that will make them stay is the incentive,” Dr Rahman said.
“In places like Walgett you could end up with $27,000 after four years, but here it’s $7000.
“These days the concept of having a general practitioner for 30 years, 35 years is gone; people move around for good opportunities and good incentives so it is difficult to recruit a doctor.”
Dr Rahman said it took her seven months to find a suitable new doctor for the practice.
Kruger currently employs three doctors full-time and one part-time.
Two of the full-time doctors are also visiting medical officers (VMOs) at the hospital, and the third is training to do so as well.
Dr Rahman believes the high work load, combined with the paperwork, red tape and lack of financial incentive, makes it unsustainable for most doctors to come here long-term.