General News
19 January, 2023
Member for Mallee to host regional health summit
Healthcare workers and providers from across Mallee are set to attend a summit in Mildura in March to discuss the challenges regional providers face. Taking place on March 1 and 2, the Regional Health Workforce Summit will see nurses, nurse...
Healthcare workers and providers from across Mallee are set to attend a summit in Mildura in March to discuss the challenges regional providers face.
Taking place on March 1 and 2, the Regional Health Workforce Summit will see nurses, nurse practitioners, doctors, generalists, surgeons, physicians and other health professionals attend, with Member for Mallee and Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health Anne Webster to host the event.
Dr Webster said the summit would be run almost backwards, with service providers hearing from healthcare professionals working on the ground and the challenges they currently face.
“In many respects I’m turning this around, this is about those who are higher up hearing from those on the ground about what is really happening and what needs to happen,” she said.
“I am absolutely passionate about ensuring that things change and getting people together to come up with solutions that will work in a regional setting is a part of that process.”
The summit will be facilitated by former Australian Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Nick Coatsworth, with almost all healthcare providers from across the region set to attend.
Dr Webster said regional healthcare was a “burning issue”, with the summit intended to address key issues.
“I said in my maiden speech that your health status should not be determined by your postcode, but it too frequently is and we need to change that,” she said.
“This is a burning issue — where I want to go with this is specifically in terms of primary care, the Federal Government is responsible for that and the fact of the matter is there is some excellent research that shows very clearly that if our primary healthcare is top quality, far fewer people will end up needing secondary and tertiary care.
“If primary care is accessible, fair and equitable it means people have a relationship with a GP and the GP clinic, they’re seen on an ongoing basis and that is the fundamental flaw in the current system.
“The reason that regional health is so poor in terms of outcomes is fundamentally because we don’t have the access to primary care that we need.”
Dr Webster said access to healthcare had been hampered by dwindling GP numbers in regional areas, something she expects will be highlighted at the summit.
“The data we have shows us that regional health is falling down a slippery slope, we’re not just in crisis, in the Sunraysia reason we have 58 percent of GPs aged 55 and older,” she said.
“The reality is that younger doctors coming through are really focused on work-life balance and frankly don’t work the hours that older GPs work.
“We need to be able to acknowledge that and work with it to ensure we have the full time equivalent workforce that we need.”
Dr Webster said the summit will be the first of its kind for the region.