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Speaker 1: And now there's a couple of issues around doctors at

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Speaker 1: the moment, and one is doctors say the government should

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Speaker 1: invest more into GPS instead of pouring money into hospital

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Speaker 1: The Royal Australian College of GPS saying general practice care

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Speaker 1: is essential in keeping people healthy and out of hospital

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Speaker 1: and GPS will visit State Parliament to urge politicians to

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Speaker 1: grow the GP workforce and strengthen primary care. But there's

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Speaker 1: another angle to all of this, and that is the

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Speaker 1: College of GPS saying health ministers must take all responsibility

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Speaker 1: for anything that goes wrong in the rushed process to

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Speaker 1: implement an expedited pathway for overseas trained medical specialists. So

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Speaker 1: this is for people coming into the country from overseas

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Speaker 1: who have a medical degree, being a doctor coming in

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Speaker 1: and because we need doctors urgently, they're fast tracked into

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Speaker 1: the system. Well what happens if we don't fast track

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Speaker 1: them then we have a demand I suppose, and it

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Speaker 1: takes on. I'm going to see a doctor wherever you

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Speaker 1: might be, So it becomes very complicated. Doctor Nicle Higgins,

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Speaker 1: President Royal Australian College of GPS on the line, good morning, the.

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Speaker 2: Cole, good morning and yes, it is complicated.

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Speaker 1: All right, Well we need the GPS. How else can

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Speaker 1: we get more people into the system other than fast

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Speaker 1: tracking doctors from overseas.

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Speaker 2: Well, the thing is we're actually already doing that, and

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Speaker 2: we're already getting those numbers through and getting them quickly.

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Speaker 2: So this is about a change of process and this

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Speaker 2: is now the government taking over and going through the

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Speaker 2: pathway versus the very sari checking that we do to

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Speaker 2: make sure those future GPS are safe and supported.

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Speaker 1: Now the College has had a role in that, but

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Speaker 1: I understand in the future it's just going to be

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Speaker 1: the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency that will assess the

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Speaker 1: suit ability of overseas trained doctors. Why does that concern you?

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Speaker 1: Are they not up to doing that job?

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Speaker 2: Well, we don't know any of the details. And the

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Speaker 2: love you know, the regulated taking over twenty years ago

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Speaker 2: the government recommended that oh sorry, inquiry recommended it goes

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Speaker 2: back to the colleges just so that we can make

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Speaker 2: sure that the doctors that are coming through are safe

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Speaker 2: for themselves also for our patients. And when we go

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Speaker 2: through on you know, it's not just about the paperwork

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Speaker 2: and the qualification, it's actually making sure that these doctors

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Speaker 2: are supported to work, you know in the Australian health

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Speaker 2: system which is very, very different, and also these doctors

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Speaker 2: who are working rural and regional areas and to make

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Speaker 2: sure that we can transition them, just to make sure

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Speaker 2: that you know, it's as smooth as we can.

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Speaker 1: Okay, your data shows one in five require extra training

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Speaker 1: education despite the qualifications being similar to what you get

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Speaker 1: in Australia. So so one in five twenty percent of

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Speaker 1: overseas trained doctors aren't up to the job.

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Speaker 2: So those one in five doctors do require extra support.

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Speaker 2: And it may be around communication, it may be a

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Speaker 2: knowledge upskill, or around professionalism, and that's we're calling on

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Speaker 2: the regulator to make sure that they've got you know,

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Speaker 2: steps in place for the doctor's well being and also

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Speaker 2: for patients safety.

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Speaker 1: Okay, that's the important thing I suppose for those of

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Speaker 1: us who turn up to a doctor, and particularly to

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Speaker 1: a GP, I mean, they seem to be experts in everything,

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Speaker 1: and you take their advice obviously, that's why you're there.

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Speaker 1: That's why you've waited a couple of hours in a

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Speaker 1: waiting room to see them, because you're not well and

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Speaker 1: you want someone to tell you what you need, so

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Speaker 1: you go away doing what they tell you to do.

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Speaker 1: The worry would be if it's not whether it's in

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Speaker 1: a GP's clinic or even probably worse, if it's in

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Speaker 1: a hospital. If that advice isn't right, the repercussions can

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Speaker 1: be just terrible, too terrible to think about, and.

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Speaker 2: We've seen that in the past. And so after general

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Speaker 2: practice we're also it'll be obstetricians and gynecologists, anethetists and

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Speaker 2: psychiatrists in the first tranch. And you know, despite you

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Speaker 2: know similar training, there are quite a lot of differences.

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Speaker 2: So for obstetricians, for example in the UK not trained

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Speaker 2: in instrumental delivery flack forces that we do in Australia,

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Speaker 2: and if you're working in a rural regional area, these

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Speaker 2: are essential skills. So that's what the colleges do, make

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Speaker 2: sure that they have the right skills and then provide

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Speaker 2: that support to make sure that we've got the right

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Speaker 2: doctors in the right places.

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Speaker 1: Okay locally and gps visiting state parliaments today to make

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Speaker 1: this point to grow the GP workforce rather than pour

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Speaker 1: money into hospitals. How else can we address ramping If

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Speaker 1: we don't pour money into hospitals.

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Speaker 2: So we actually need to put money into the foundations

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Speaker 2: of the healthcare system, and which has been neglected both

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Speaker 2: successive governments over the last ten years. And now the

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Speaker 2: ramping and the emergency Department is you know, that's the

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Speaker 2: consequence of it. So we're now starting to see some

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Speaker 2: green shoots. Next year in twenty twenty five, we have

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Speaker 2: got more doctors wanting to be GPS than we've got

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Speaker 2: funded training places for So we're calling on the government

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Speaker 2: to you to train extra GPS and to make sure

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Speaker 2: that we grow our own through our medical schools as well.

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Speaker 2: By twenty thirty thirty three, we're going to be importing

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Speaker 2: more GPS then we're growing. So there are That's what

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Speaker 2: I said. It's complex, But we also have doctors who

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Speaker 2: are cleaning and HS and the UK, so we want

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Speaker 2: to make sure that we provide a safe environment and

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Speaker 2: that they're supported when they're come in here.

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Speaker 1: Okay, most of this would be a federal government issue,

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Speaker 1: wouldn't it to try to get more GPS into the system,

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Speaker 1: creating the places in unis and the like.

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Speaker 2: It is indeed, it is federal, but there are issues

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Speaker 2: that are impacting from from the States as well. Payroll

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Speaker 2: tax has been one of them that's impacting on cost

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Speaker 2: and access, and the interface between the state federal systems

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Speaker 2: is complicated. But we know that if you from countries

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Speaker 2: all around the world, if you fund primary care and

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Speaker 2: general practice, we have all got the same outcome. We

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Speaker 2: want to keep people out of expensive hospital.

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Speaker 1: Indeed, all right, so from here, where do you go?

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Speaker 1: I mean you're having a bit of a protest today.

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Speaker 1: I suppose in Parliament, meeting people there and talking through

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Speaker 1: these issues. But it takes a long time. You talk

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Speaker 1: about green shoots, they take ages. The sprout.

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Speaker 2: Look that there does take time to grow a medical

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Speaker 2: workforce and our internationally qualified doctors are a really important

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Speaker 2: part of our workforce and in rural and regional South

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Speaker 2: Australia account for fifty two the workforce. So we need

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Speaker 2: to find that balance, but also make sure that there

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Speaker 2: are a lot of countries who are crying out for

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Speaker 2: GPS as well, so we need to grow our own

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Speaker 2: as well as in this global, global competitive space, make

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Speaker 2: sure the GPS who are coming into Australia are safe

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Speaker 2: and supportive.

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Speaker 1: What does the college do that's different to opera in

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Speaker 1: terms of viewing judging whatever the case is an overseas

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Speaker 1: trained doctor suitability for Australia. What really concerns you that

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Speaker 1: APRA might miss.

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Speaker 2: So it's not just the qualification and we know that

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Speaker 2: the UK New Zealand their regulatory systems haven't been as

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Speaker 2: robust as Australia and to get those initial qualifications, and

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Speaker 2: what the RACGP does is we actually do the deep dive.

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Speaker 2: We make sure that we have a not to at

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Speaker 2: their criminal history and any those things. It's also looking

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Speaker 2: at how they would trained medical school. Have they what

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Speaker 2: sort of skills and are they comparable to those that

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Speaker 2: are required for an Australian train graduate and are the

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Speaker 2: skills that they have suitable for where they're actually going

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Speaker 2: to train.

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Speaker 1: Nicole, appreciate your time, Thank you, pleasure, Thank you doctor

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Speaker 1: Nicole Higgins, who is President Royal Australian College of GPS