22 October 2022

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) is urging the Australian Government to prioritise Australia’s healthcare system in the upcoming budget.

The RACP is pleased to see the Government’s commitment to delivering a ‘wellbeing budget’ and health is a fundamental foundation of that.

RACP President Dr Jacqueline Small says, “We want to see an adequate investment in Australia’s healthcare system as a top priority in this year’s budget. We are no longer on the brink of a crisis – we are already in it.

“We understand the fiscal outlook is challenging. We recognise there might have to be some tough budgetary measures introduced as a result. One area that must not be compromised on is the health system.

“The Federal Government must heed the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic and reform the health system. We have a workforce that is burnt out. We need to take serious actions to reform the way that we deliver health services, including:

• Relieving pressure on the hospital system by including specialist care pathways in the Government’s Urgent Care Clinics
• Funding the reinstatement of all telephone specialist telehealth services to improve equity of access
• Increase the number of Specialist Training Program (STP) places to grow access to specialist medicine in rural and regional communities and build a pipeline of specialists
• Invest in bolstering the healthcare workforce through national strategies for flexible training and work hours, parental leave and other support mechanisms
• Fully fund the effective implementation of the National Preventive Health Strategy which commits 5% of health expenditure for prevention over 10 years till 2030. 

“These measures are an investment in building the healthcare system that Australians need for the future.

“Our rural and remote patients are bearing the brunt of the underinvestment and poor health workforce planning. Creating more training opportunities for future physicians in the regional and rural communities will help to expand the national workforce and address the need for more specialists in underserviced areas.

"The Specialist Training Program administered by the RACP has high demand for training places but inadequate funding from the Government to meet demand from health services.

“Expanding the number of specialist training places is critical to addressing the shortage of medical specialists in rural and regional areas. Providing more attractive and flexible training pathways and working conditions for up-and-coming specialists will help to address urgent staff shortages and wellbeing issues. 

“We need to also recognise the burden of preventable disease on our health system and invest in preventative health. The appropriately funded implementation of the National Preventive Health Strategy is no longer negotiable - the longer we delay spending money on prevention, the longer our ED queues and higher our overall health budgets will be.

“As a simple step, reinstating phone-based specialist telehealth MBS items which were cut off in July this year will also enable many underserviced communities to access the medical care and relieve pressures on other frontline services.

“Investing properly and meaningfully in these key areas will benefit the entire healthcare system by ensuring we have a strong and resilient workforce delivering high quality and timely healthcare to our population,” Dr Small said.

Some of the key RACP pre-budget asks include:

• Ensure Medicare supports equity of access to care for low income and underserviced patients, particularly in rural and regional areas
• Fund the reinstatement of all telephone-based specialist consultations, including those for complex consultations
• Reduce the negative impacts of the digital divide by funding videoconferencing technology packages to support capacity building for patients, especially those in priority and underserviced groups.
• Increase the number of Specialist Training Program (STP) places to grow access to specialist medicine in rural and regional communities and build a pipeline of specialists
• Invest in bolstering the healthcare workforce through national strategies for flexible training and work hours, parental leave and other support mechanisms.
• Establish and fund a Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, including consultation with the RACP in its design
• Fully fund the effective implementation of the National Preventive Health Strategy which commits 5% of health expenditure to prevention over 10 years to 2030.

The RACP’s full Pre-Budget Submission can be read here.