A lack of insight into the required make-up of Australia’s future medical workforce has sparked a call for a new national planning body.
The Australian Medical Association said an independent national health workforce planning agency would ensure Australia’s medical workforce was distributed where it was needed.
AMA President Danielle McMullen said building a sustainable medical workforce was essential to futureproofing Australia’s healthcare system.
“There are many regions across Australia where access to healthcare remains a challenge due to the maldistribution and shortages,” Dr McMullen said.
“This leads to Australians facing prolonged wait times for appointments, delayed diagnosis and a backlog of care, which adds up to substandard patient health outcomes.”
Dr McMullen said health workforce planning stalled when Health Workforce Australia was abolished in 2014, and the Department of Health and Aged Care had too many competing priorities to properly tackle the issue.
“The impact of the loss of this agency can be seen in the workforce issues we are facing now. Thorough, evidence-based planning, coordination and policy advice is needed on workforce to ensure the healthcare needs of Australians can be met in the future.”
AMA Council of Doctors in Training Chair Sanjay Hettige said Australia was faced with a situation where no one knew how many medical students were needed to meet future community need.
“Policy development is happening in a vacuum, and we are seeing a growing number of doctors in training unable to access a specialty training place,” Dr Hettige said.
“A national health workforce planning agency would ensure Australia has a health workforce with the right skills, in the right locations, to meet future community needs and demand.”
