The College submission to the Senate Select Committee Inquiry into the Australian Government’s Response to the COVID-19 pandemic has now been released by the Committee and is available on the College website. Based on the COVID experiences to date, ACRRM’s submission notes what has worked well, and makes a number of recommendations both for future disaster planning and management and within the broader medical policy context.
These include:
- Rural Generalists; GPs and the primary care sector more generally should be involved in disaster planning and response at the national, state and local levels;
- Better preparation for future disasters, including adequate stockpiles of PPE; maintaining retrieval capacity; and incentivising health care facilities and staff to maintain basic equipment levels and training in disaster response and management;
- Training the future rural and remote health workforce and especially providing continuity of assessment and training;
- Workforce planning which recognises and integrates the National Rural Generalist Pathway;
- Retention and enhancement of fit-for-purposed MBS telehealth rebates for primary care