As health lawyers based in regional NSW, we are aware of the many unique healthcare challenges that face rural and remote Australians. Unfortunately, we have also seen the devastating outcomes of medical treatment that has fallen below reasonable standards in these communities.
Even anecdotally, it is evident that there is a significant resourcing issue in rural and remote Australia in the context of healthcare. Some examples that have been shared with us include:
- Extreme difficulty in securing an appointment with a general practitioner;
- Patients being dealt with via telehealth in an emergency department;
- Patients being transferred from one hospital, to another only to end up back at the first hospital and still not seen by a doctor;
- Women having to travel hundreds of kilometres in labour to give birth due to obstetric department closures.
The current under resourcing in rural areas presents a risk to all patients and puts pressure on the health staff in the regional centres.
Recently, the Australian Government has announced that it will invest significantly in an “incentive for eligible doctors and nurse practitioners to live and practice in rural, remote or very remote areas of Australia”. The initiative enables eligible doctors and nurses to reduce their outstanding Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debt, provided they meet the eligibility criteria.
The government estimated that about 850 workers per year would use the program.
There is obviously more work to be done but we hope that this initiative will change the status quo and as a result, improve some of the deficiencies in regional and rural healthcare which we come across in our medical negligence team.
You can read more about the initiative here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-11/plan-to-wipe-student-debt-of-rural-doctors-nurses/101639568
