That’s how Dr Ayon Guha, whose practice is the Corowa Medical Centre, summed up Corowa’s doctor number situation.
The centre has 10 doctors. “Another two would help,” Dr Ayon told The Free Press.
“But I’m not confident. Most want to work in Melbourne or Sydney, and if they want to be out of those capital cities they choose the likes of Albury and Wagga.”
Dr Ayon said the smaller centres find it very difficult to attract doctors.
A town like Corowa has so much to like about it as far as the General Practitioner at Corowa since 2014 said.
“But it’s not always about the doctor himself or herself,” Dr Ayon said. “They always want something suitable for their partner.”
Dr Ayon’s comments come as new research shows Australia’s current GP shortage has reached a crisis point with a predicted shortfall of 11,392 (28 per cent) full-time General Practitioners (GPs) by 2032.
A report by Deloitte released earlier this year shows demand for GPs in regional and remote areas is estimated to grow between 2021 and 2032 by 17.6 per cent.
The projected demand is a result of a number of factors including GP burnout throughout the pandemic. Data also shows that 45 per cent of the GP workforce is over 55 and will be looking to retire in the next few years.
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Vice President Dr Bruce Willett said that GPs and general practice teams were under more pressure than ever.
“High COVID-19 and influenza rates have served to highlight the result of decades of underinvestment in general practice. Unless governments invest in general practice care we will see more of this in the future and wait times will only worsen,” he said.
“At a personal level, I've been a GP for 35 years now and I haven't really seen a winter like this where we're seeing such extraordinarily high numbers of influenza. Normally, influenza peaks as a late winter phenomenon. On top of that, we're seeing record numbers of COVID-19 and other viruses like respiratory syncytial virus or RSV.
“This is a perfect storm of a whole range of issues coming together.”
The problem is exacerbated by fewer junior doctors applying to become a GP.
“The chronic underfunding of Medicare is resulting in medical graduates not treating general practice as a preferred career and so we're in danger of running out of GPs. All of those things are coming together to cause a really acute shortage of GPs nation-wide,” Dr Willett said.
RACGP President Adj. Professor Karen Price said investment in general practice care was urgently needed.
“We must boost the GP workforce by making it a more appealing option for future doctors, Professor Price said. “One of the keys to achieving this is increasing investment in general practice care. Patient rebates simply have not kept pace with the rising cost of providing high-quality care and that must change.
“Future doctors are looking at every other speciality such as being a surgeon and seeing huge differences in Medicare support. Yet GPs and general practice teams save lives through continuous, coordinated care again and again and Medicare rebates must reflect that.
“If governments don’t urgently invest in general practice care, patients will face longer and longer waits to see a GP. When patients can’t book a prompt appointment, health conditions can deteriorate, and they can end up in a hospital bed with something that could and should have been managed at first instance by a GP. This is a scenario in which no one wins.”
At the Australian Medical Associations’ National Conference held in late July, Federal Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler and Shadow Health Minister Anne Ruston recognised the crisis in General Practice as an urgent bipartisan issue, with Minister Butler committing to improving the number of graduates entering GP training. Similarly, Shadow Minister Ruston offered support to any government policies meaningfully addressing this issue.