Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Defence Personnel) Share this | Hansard source

In addition to that, I'm concerned about the shortage of doctors in the Ipswich region going forward. On 1 July this year the government, without any fanfare, without much warning at all, decided to change the previous District of Workforce Shortage system, which used a simple GP-to-population ratio, to the new Distribution Priority Area system, which has adversely impacted my area and will continue to do so. I've met many GPs and GP practices in my area, and they are very concerned about what's going to happen in relation to this issue. Minister Mark Coulton, the Minister for Regional Services, Decentralisation and Local Government, wrote to me. After I had received his letter, I wrote back to him, and, to give him credit, he met with me to talk about the local issues. The problem in relation to this issue is that the regional areas in my electorate—and they are regional areas, country towns—will be adversely affected, and so will the city of Ipswich. So I wrote to the minister about it. I think what should happen—and I have the support of the member for Oxley in relation to this—is that these areas around Ipswich and the areas around the southern part of the Somerset region, such as Lowood, Fernvale and Karana Downs, should be included and recognised as regional areas.

Already 50 per cent of our GPs in the Ipswich and West Moreton region are not Australians. I've met with many of the local GPs and GP practices. It's been a topic of much discussion amongst the medical fraternity in Ipswich and the surrounding areas, and The Queensland Times has reported widely and wisely in relation to this. I wrote to the minister, I met with him and he wrote back to me saying that he won't do it, he won't change it; however, should the circumstances of an area change substantially, such as a dramatic reduction in the number of GPs employed in the area, resulting in a substantial drop in health services in the community, they may consider the community's needs. Seriously? You've got to wait until people in my area get adverse impacts on their health before you'll do anything about it?

You've got to listen to what the local GPs have to say in the area. I have the support, by the way, of the Darling Downs and West Moreton PHN. Merrilyn Strohfeldt, the CEO, supports what I'm doing in terms of the reclassification. I also have the support of the West Moreton Hospital and Health Service in relation to this. Dr Kerrie Freeman supports me. They're supportive of what I'm doing, and the government won't listen. The government say: 'If we've got a substantial drop in GPs, we may do something about it in future.' Well, they're waiting for my community and surrounding communities to be adversely impacted in terms of health outcomes. They're completely ignoring the health needs assessments done in 2017, 2018 and 2019 by the Darling Downs and West Moreton Primary Health Network. You can see them on their website going forward to 2021. I'd recommend the minister have a look at the issues of diabetes, poverty, heart disease, lung disease and a whole range of areas where we have real problems in our region. But the government say: 'If your health needs decline and you have fewer doctors, we may consider it.'

It gets worse. It is like that episode of Utopia. Guess what they say? They've established a 'distribution advisory group'. He's going to refer my request off to a committee. At the same time, in the paragraph before, he says: 'By the way, if you get adversely impacted by losing a substantial number of doctors, we're going to have a look at it at some stage in the future. But don't worry. There's a committee looking at it.' I'm waiting for Rob Sitch to come along—you know, Tony, who's in charge of the NBA? He'll help you! The minister says: 'No. We're going to refer it to a committee. We'll look at it at the next meeting.' Well, I'm still waiting for that. I've got that, by the way, in a letter dated 23 September 2019 and received on 27 September 2019. I'm waiting for the minister, waiting for the committee—the much-vaunted committee that'll sort out the problem. They're not worrying about the adverse impact on our area. They should listen to Doctors Cathryn Hester and Tony Bayliss from the Colleges Crossing Family Practice, or indeed the doctors from the Riverlink Family Practice. I recommend they go and talk to them or any number of other doctors I've spoken to. The government should do much better.

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