College says solution to specialist shortage must start with training more specialists for rural and regional areas

 20 April 2023

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians says reports by the ABC today of specialist wait times of up to six years among some specialities is very concerning, but not surprising.

The College says that it is critical for the Federal Government to invest in more specialist training positions in the upcoming budget.

RACP President and Paediatrician Dr Jacqueline Small says “Reports today of enormous wait times confirms our concerns that Australia’s healthcare system is struggling to meet the needs of the growing population.

“There’s a significant shortage of specialist physicians especially in many rural and regional areas, and we encourage the Federal Government to expand the program to allow for more positions for specialists to be trained.  

"The RACP currently administers only approximately 380 specialist training program positions across Australia.  The number of places may not be truly enough to address the under resourcing in regional areas which we know are areas in dire need.

“The STP program has been now in place for 10 years and it has been some time since the base program has added funding for additional STP positions.

Complexities and delays with Federal administration of the program must also be resolved, and we need adequate national workforce data across all health workforce to be clear on the scale of the problem.

“The RACP has a waiting list of well over 100 STP positions which cannot be taken up, and we are likely to add even more during next year’s STP Expression of Interest round.

“There is no shortage of interest in these positions – the limiting factor is available government funding and standing up positions within the health system in a timely way. The upcoming budget is an important opportunity to fix this.

“We also need to use this as an opportunity to reimagine Australia’s healthcare system entirely. A healthcare system that truly meets the needs of the community is one that is integrated and accessible for all patients. 

“We need to reform our primary and community healthcare systems in a way that includes specialists.

“By training more specialists and integrating specialist care into all facets of our healthcare system – we’ll be able to alleviate patient wait times and get better health outcomes for the community.

“That is because multidisciplinary care takes a team to deliver the types of care patients need, and medical specialists play a key role in delivering effective and cost-effective team-based care across the health system.” Dr Small said.

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