Candidates have a say over
As part of our ongoing federal election coverage, The Courier has conducted a survey of all Nicholls candidates on topical issues in Cobram. We asked each candidate the same questions on this weeks’s topic, medical care:
• Residents have reported waiting one-three weeks for a GP visit or being turned away altogether/told clinics are not taking on new patients, how do you propose to improve access and availability in Cobram?
• Some patients are being forced to travel to Shepparton or further for appointments, do you plan to encourage more GPs and specialists to practice in Cobram? How do you plan to do this?
I’m really concerned about poor GP access across our region and Cobram seems to be experiencing the most severe shortages. In talking to local medical professionals I’m shocked to hear that what we’re seeing now is about to get a lot worse. Remaining doctors are leaving at a much faster rate than the available pipeline to replace them.
The crisis has been building for many years and there has been no plan to fix it.
There are enough GPs in Australia, but they aren’t where they need to be. We need immediate incentives to attract doctors here. Currently, it doesn’t stack up financially for them to come here. The government has the power to change this and I’ll be making this a top priority if elected.
In the longer term, we need to do better to train and retain locals to go into general practice. This has started, but in numbers too low.
Further investment is required.
Sam Birrell, Nationals
The main issue is the number of general practitioners in regional areas across northern Victoria. There is not a quick fix. We need to train more regional young people to be regional doctors to provide a long-term solution. That is what we are doing with the MurrayDarling Medical School. The school will offer a three-year Bachelor of Biomedical Science in regional Victoria and a four-year postgraduate degree in medicine based in Shepparton. This will result in 30 new graduates each year who have put down roots in the Goulburn Valley and will work regionally, including in Cobram. The Murray-Darling Medical School is a great initiative thanks to the Nationals in government. Research shows that people who