ACRRM Rural Generalists supporting Australian farmers in Farm Safety Week

Ensuring farmers have access to high quality healthcare is the message the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) is promoting in Farm Safety Week this week.

“We already know there is an ongoing disparity in health outcomes between rural Australians and their urban counterparts,” ACRRM President Dr Ewen McPhee says.

“To address this inequality, there needs to be a commitment to provide proactive and targeted support in areas such as rural and remote mental health, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, and rural occupational health and safety.

“Our farmers are the backbone of our rural and remote communities and there are ways to address these issues.

“The National Rural Generalist Pathway is an opportunity to repopulate country towns with skilled Rural Generalists who have the knowledge and skills to provide a broad scope of medical care,” Dr McPhee says.

Rural Generalists provide care in emergency situations; have advanced skills in a range of areas including mental health, indigenous health, obstetrics and anaesthetics; use telehealth to improve access to care; and can work as part of a health care team serving our rural and remote communities. 

“ACRRM is committed to the National Rural Generalist Pathway. “It will provide the framework for coordinated workforce training and support and deliver excellent healthcare where it is most needed.

“We hope that it will also help reinvigorate interest in general practice and address the current maldistribution of the general practice workforce so that doctors are motivated and supported to work in the regional, rural and remote communities where they are needed.”

“This will go a long way to ensuring our farmers, their families and communities are not left behind when it comes to access to high quality medical care,” Dr McPhee says.