The complex challenge of boosting doctor numbers in rural Queensland was put under the microscope during a forum that concluded day two of the Rural Doctors Association of Queensland conference on the Gold Coast.
On a day in which rural medical workforce pressures had been dissected by experts from diverse fields - including industrial relations, education and training, and climate change - the forum brought together several opinion makers with views on what's causing the doctor shortage and how numbers might be restored and sustained in the future.
The forum's panellists included RDAQ president Dr RT Lewandowski, Rural Doctors Association of Australia CEO Peta Rutherford, Health Consumers Queensland CEO Melissa Fox, and Australian Medical Association Queensland president Professor Chris Perry.
The LNP's opposition health spokeswoman Ros Bates was also part of the discussion, which Health Minister Yvette D'Ath had declined to attend, instead opting to officially open the conference on Thursday night.
All speakers agreed that rural Queensland's medical workforce model was in urgent need of an overhaul, especially as more stress to the system was applied from an ageing population, higher rates of chronic disease and the ongoing campaign to contain the spread of Covid.
Ms Fox, whose organisation represents the views of patients utilising the health system, said equitable health care was a fundamental human right, which should not differ in quality and accessibility based on location.
"There really needs to be more attention paid to where the workforce is," she said. "It's not fair that it's a postcode lottery for consumers."
Ms Bates, who as a former nurse and midwife has for many years taken a keen interest in birthing, said workforce erosion was still causing disruption to the state's rural maternity network.
She said 34 rural maternity units had closed in the last 20 years, the latest at Chinchilla, which RDAQ was working to have fully restored.
"No matter where you live in Queensland, you need to have access," she said.
"We can't have babies being born with their birth address as the Warrego Highway."
The panellists were also in agreement that health care needed to be more collaborative and integrated, involving greater cooperation between federal and state government agencies, within a patient-centred framework.
The 'medico-political' forum, a highlight of the annual RDAQ conference, followed several sessions on the day's program that probed in detail some of the emerging stressors on rural medical care.
Topping the list of pressure points was climate change, with more frequent extreme weather events having a direct impact on people's health, such as an upswing in respiratory complaints during bushfire season, higher incidences of skin cancer amid rising temperatures, and elevated emotional stress during prolonged periods of drought.
The RDAQ conference took place at the Royal Pines RACV Resort.
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