Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to speak about a subject that I am particularly passionate about: regional and rural health care. This subject impacts millions of people who live outside urban areas. In my electorate of Mallee we have the worst ratio of GPs to population in Victoria. While Melbourne has one GP to 900 people, in Mallee we do not experience such parity. In the Swan Hill region, for example, the ratio is one GP to 6,289 people; and, in Horsham, one GP to 3,400.

These ratios provide evidence that we must have a regional and rural lens on healthcare reform. As a proud Nationals MP, I will fight until a working model is implemented. I understand these numbers simply identify the problem we face in getting GPs to rural and regional areas. However, I argue that the answer is not an answer that might have served 50 years ago.

General practice, and the culture of general practice, has changed. Young medical graduates today are a different demographic. There are many more women who choose to mix family responsibilities with work and life balance, and they are looking for a supportive work environment. I recognise this through stakeholder engagement and the realities of rural circumstances.

We need integrated medical networks made up of GPs, allied health and primary health teams. Nurse practitioners must play a larger role in a highly skilled team, because they have so much to give in rural and regional communities. It is common knowledge that the Medicare Benefits Schedule is being reviewed. This is important for the viability and sustainability of our healthcare system. It's important that nurse practitioners are able to work and be paid for their vast skills.

I had the pleasure of visiting Mallee Track Health and Community Service in Ouyen last week. This healthcare service while struggling with current funding limitations nonetheless gives a model to build on. Block funding mixed with MBS payments helps a single-employer model provide a mix of aged care, urgency care, GPs, and primary and allied health in on-site and outreach work in communities, with a reach as far as Murrayville. This integrated model provides a lens to consider options for healthcare delivery in all regions across Australia. I assert that a person's health should not be dependent on their postcode.

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