The struggle to attract and retain doctors in regional and rural New South Wales has gotten a lot harder. Both Victoria and Queensland are now offering generous incentives for GPs to fill their country practices. Over worked doctors here say it is likely to worsen GP exodus.
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00:00At 76, Wellington Dr Ian Spencer would like to be enjoying retirement. Instead, his workload
00:10is about to increase. His two fellow GPs are moving on, and he hasn't been able to find
00:17doctors to replace them.
00:18Emotionally I am very distressed at the thought of the possibility of what could happen.
00:24A similar situation is playing out in towns across western New South Wales, with around
00:2950 GP trainee spots going unfilled.
00:33Last year, Victoria announced a $40,000 cash incentive to attract trainee GPs.
00:39What we've seen in Victoria is they've absolutely turned it around. They've gone from not being
00:44able to fill their regional and their rural places to having an oversupply.
00:50And now, Queensland has offered the same incentive for next year.
00:54If I were a GP trainee now, I would absolutely be considering moving to another state. That
01:00is going to give me an adequate level of funding for my training.
01:07This medical practice in Dubbo has closed its books to new patients, with doctors already
01:11carrying higher than recommended caseloads.
01:14For now, there's no relief in sight for this medical practice. New South Wales Health has
01:19declined to say if there are plans to match the sign-on bonuses being offered to GPs by
01:24neighbouring states.
01:26Back in Wellington, Dr Spencer could be on his own by the end of the year. One doctor
01:31with 6,000 patients on his books.