The support of state governments in keeping rural hospital services open will be crucial to the success of the Federal Government's National Rural Generalist Pathway - and in delivering more of the next generation of doctors with advanced skills to the bush - Australia's peak rural medical bodies have warned.
The Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) and Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) said moves by any state government to bypass, downsize or close rural hospital services - particularly rural maternity units - could seriously jeopardise the success of the Pathway, drain much-needed rural doctors from those states, and make them much less attractive to potential future rural doctors.
RDAA and ACRRM have highlighted Queensland as a state that has taken positive action in improving access to health services for its rural communities and is now reaping the benefits.
New RDAA President, Dr Adam Coltzau, said: "The state governments are not a sideline act here - they are a key part of the solution to delivering to rural and remote communities the Rural Generalist doctors of the future.
"The more that some state governments try to bypass, downgrade or close rural health services, the more uncertainty they will create for doctors and others working in their rural towns - and those considering working there in the future.
"And the more they will jeopardise exactly what the National Rural Generalist Pathway is trying to achieve - a new generation of Rural Generalist doctors who can deliver babies, provide general anaesthesia, deliver emergency care, undertake general surgery, provide advanced mental healthcare and deliver advanced Indigenous healthcare.
"The implementation of a National Rural Generalist Pathway is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to harness the many young doctors now graduating from our universities, provide them with advanced medical skills, and encourage and support them to work as Rural Generalist doctors across country Australia.
"The Federal Government is well and truly on-board with the National Rural Generalist Pathway concept, and its development and implementation has been made a key first priority for the new National Rural Health Commissioner.
"Given the states hold the keys to the hospital doors, it is crucial they genuinely commit to keeping local rural hospitals open and providing the facilities in which the Rural Generalist doctors of the future can train and work."
ACRRM President, Associate Professor Ruth Stewart, said: "Rural and remote Australians need good healthcare close to home. Healthcare that is provided somewhere a long way away is not good enough. Too often we are seeing state governments taking the easy approach and simply bypassing, downgrading or closing rural hospital services. Rural and remote people need their state government to rather invest in and underpin these crucial rural facilities.
"The Queensland Government has demonstrated that a bit of investment in the rural health system can pay huge dividends. It can provide better access for rural community members to local health services and it boosts the local doctor workforce; it even wins rural votes.
"In greatly reducing the need to retrieve patients to the major hospitals, it also saves money for the state health budgets and reduces pressure on waiting times and bed block at the major hospitals.
"It is critical that the states are not short-sighted when it comes to supporting rural hospital services. There is good evidence that closing local health services causes loss of health professionals and poorer health outcomes. Rural closures also send a negative message to young doctors who might otherwise want to work in that state.
"Importantly, governments need to recognise that both federal and state governments have a joint responsibility in delivering the much-needed next generation of doctors to rural and remote Australia."