A national program designed to force overseas-trained GPs to set up shop in remote and rural areas has expanded to cover the entire Hunter region, sparking a mixed reaction from doctor groups.
Health Minister Mark Butler announced on Thursday that the number of Distribution Priority Areas across Australia would grow to 707 and include larger regional centres such as Newcastle.
The program, which gives overseas-trained doctors immediate access to Medicare payments if they work in designated areas, was limited previously to parts of the Upper Hunter and other relatively remote districts.
It also includes "bonded" GPs whose training in Australia has been supported by federal funding.
Shortland MP Pat Conroy said the changes would give Hunter patients greater access to medical care.
"This will help ease the crisis going on right now where many families can't get in to see a doctor," he said.
Hunter GP Association secretary Dr Lee Fong described the DPA changes as "a step in the right direction".
"Just yesterday in my clinical work there were a couple of patients I needed to get in to see their usual GP on an urgent basis, and the next appointment was more than a month away," he said.
"There is a lot more work that needs to be done.
"The reasons for this shortage are complex, but we're very pleased that the current federal government has demonstrated a commitment to primary care, a desire to work to improve primary care."
Rural Doctors Association of Australia president Dr Megan Belot blasted the "ill informed" changes, saying they would encourage doctors to leave rural areas for larger regional centres.
"We are fearful for rural communities right across Australia who are now at extreme risk of losing their doctors as they take up positions closer to the cities," she said.
"Expanding DPA so that every location outside of a capital city, as well as some within, has the same classification has degraded it to the point where it is worthless."
Australian Medical Association NSW president Dr Michael Bonning called on the government to increase Medicare payments for GPs and offer more support for rural doctors.
"This is on the boundaries of major metro and regional centres that we still can't get enough doctors and we're resorting to distribution programs," he said.
"If it remains a specialty that is significantly less remunerated than others, then we'll always remain a lower-priority choice for many medical graduates.
"About 13 per cent of medical graduates enter general practice training compared to in the past when we saw numbers up around a quarter or more.
"This is moving deckchairs on the Titanic."
