Incentive payments, recruiting doctors to areas of need, McDonalds and Diabetes Australia

Doorstop Interview - 12 July 2004

GILLARD:        I am here today with Anita Phillips, Labor’s candidate for this area, to announce that an incoming Labor Government would declare Townsville as an area of need for recruiting GPs. This community is very short of GPs and that puts real pressure and strain on patients who are looking to get to a GP. It also means the doctors are under pressure and it puts pressure on the emergency department of the local hospital. By declaring this as an area of need, Labor would be fixing the fact that the Howard Government classifies this area as if it is part of metropolitan Australia and, by declaring this as an area of need, it means local doctors would be able to get an incentive to employ practise nurses who can help them go about their work. It means that doctors who are newly recruited to come and work in Townsville would be eligible for a $20,000 incentive payment, if they joined an established practice or a $30,000 incentive payment if they created a new practice. It also means that this area would be able to recruit overseas trained doctors, if it wasn’t able to attract Australian doctors through the new incentive program.

Anita Phillips, as the local candidate, has raised this issue consistently with me. It is one of the biggest problems facing Townsville.  It is a problem that Prime Minister John Howard and Minister Tony Abbott could fix today if they wanted to but they refuse to do so. Labor will fix the problem by ensuring that this is classified as an area of need and you get the appropriate assistance that you should have to bring GPs to town. Anita might want to say a few words.

PHILLIPS:       I’m just delighted that the Shadow Minister is able to be here today to announce this. It is a very significant move for our area of Herbert because it brings Townsville into an area now where we attract GPs and other people to work on the ground here instead of what has been happening in the past where we’ve had to compete with the metropolitan areas for specialists and for general practitioners.       

REPORTER:       What criteria do you need to fulfil to be declared an area of need? How short-changed are we in terms of doctor numbers in the Townsville region?      

GILLARD:        You are very short-changed; you’ve got patient doctor ratios as high as one to 1,900 patients. There are many parts of metropolitan Australia, central business districts, inner city areas, where the ratio is one to 700 or one to 800. The problem here has been that the need has been recognised. You’ve been artificially and wrongly classified as if you were part of suburban Sydney. Townsville is not suburban Sydney; it’s a community with its own needs, and this announcement recognises those needs and will help you get more doctors in town.

REPORTER:       The Howard Government is also trying to [inaudible] Townsville as RRMAs [inaudible], is this a copycat scheme? Are they doing it because the Labor Party is thinking of doing it as well or do they [inaudible] think of that?

GILLARD:        I think the problem for the Howard Government is that they have actually had eight years to address issues like this and they haven’t done so. Now, I don’t know whether the Howard Government is planning some two minutes to midnight pre-election announcement but the reality is this problem should be fixed and Labor will fix it. We are doing it because we recognise there are real needs in this community and the simple question to Prime Minister Howard and Minister Abbott to answer, and, indeed, Peter Lindsay, is why haven’t they acted to date on this real area of crisis for the Townsville community and for the seat of Herbert, generally?

REPORTER:       Does it open up more Medicare provider numbers for overseas trained doctors? How does this area of need classification actually solve the problem?

GILLARD:        It does mean that if you aren’t able to recruit and train Australian doctors you would be able to get an overseas trained doctor with a Medicare provider number who could offer a full service to the community. But, even before that, it does mean that the efforts of local doctors go further because they can be better supported by practice nurses and it does offer major incentives for Australian doctors to come and relocate to Townsville.

REPORTER:       Will there be any incentive for bulk-billing? Will bulk-billing be a target as well?

GILLARD:        Under Labor’s plan to try and get doctors bulk-billing again, we’ve already announced that in an area like this one we would be increasing the Medicare rebate to 100 per cent of the scheduled fee, as well as to targeted incentives to get doctors bulk-billing again. Obviously the more doctors who are in town and the more incentives we give to bulkbill, the better the bulk-billing rate.

REPORTER:       There is a [inaudible] at the moment being run by the State member for Thuringowa, for Townsville [inaudible] a twin city of 50,000 people to get a Medicare office in that city. What would your thoughts be on that? Does a city of that size deserve a Medicare office?

GILLARD:        I am obviously here with an expert when it comes to Thuringowa so Anita isn’t going to let me forget the needs of that community, given she is so expert in them. I am going there today to talk to people about the need for a Medicare office. It seems to me, looking at the issue, that there is a real cause for concern but I will be investigating that this afternoon with Anita and we will then be determining what position Labor will take on that question. But Anita has raised with me the real concerns of the local community about not having a Medicare office available in Thuringowa and she might want to add to that.

REPORTER:       Is it an issue, Anita?

PHILLIPS:       It certainly is an issue particularly for families once they have been to see the doctor. It could cost them up to $100 just to have two kids go to the doctor and then they have to come all the way back in here to the city or out to Stocklands to get their rebate and families just can’t afford that out-of-pocket expense for any length of time. They need to have access to an office that is nearby and close to where they live. The current federal member has ignored this issue and doesn’t regard it as an issue at all.

REPORTER:       [inaudible] his plans to develop it under the Medicare [inaudible] is not going to be a relevant campaign?     

PHILLIPS:       It just goes to show how out of touch this Howard Government is, and locally here Peter Lindsay is, with the real needs and the real problems that are facing our families not only in Thuringowa but all over Townsville.

REPORTER:       Do you support Craig Wallace in [inaudible]

PHILLIPS:       I certainly do support Craig Wallace in getting a Medicare office at the Willows. I worked with the Willows management during my time as member for Thuringowa and we were constantly knocked back by the Federal Government who did not see it as an issue, who don’t understand the needs of families in our electorate.

REPORTER:       If Labor wins the election will Medicare offices remain open on Saturday?

GILLARD:        Yes, we welcomed the announcement that Medicare offices will be open on Saturdays. Can I just say once again it is a little bit cute that, after eight years of the Howard Government, within weeks of a Federal election we are suddenly seeing an announcement that Medicare offices are going to be open on Saturdays? But I do support the move. Can I say in response to what Peter Lindsay has said about having a Medicare office in Thuringowa, he clearly doesn’t understand the Howard Government’s [inaudible] the only way of getting cash immediately back if you’ve been to the doctor is at a Medicare office. That is the only way community members who are really strapped for cash can get the cash back straight away.

REPORTER:       How many other places are there around Australia or Queensland [inaudible] that you have identified as areas of need?

GILLARD:        Look, in terms of me identifying them as areas of need this is the first one in Queensland. This has been a standout case where clearly the current classification is fanciful when you look at the nature of this community and where the doctor shortage is so acute. So this is a first for Queensland and it is something that we would get on and do, immediately, on the election of the Latham Labor Government.

REPORTER:       What do you think of the relationship between McDonalds and Diabetes Australia?

GILLARD:        I’ve got the same cause for concern that Dr Bill Glasson from the AMA has stated. Clearly, I understand that McDonalds is trying to change its menus and offer some healthier food options, and I would welcome that, but I think when it comes to diabetes education – and of course the coming epidemic of type 2 diabetes – that there is a worry that there is a cross endorsement with McDonalds. I think it would be better if Diabetes Australia was out there on its own rather than with the corporate sponsorship. But that doesn’t mean to say we don’t welcome McDonalds diversifying its menu; we do. But I am worried that it can be seen as an endorsement for McDonalds, generally. And, of course, junk food consumption, particularly by kids, is one of the main issues feeding our concern about childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes. That is part of the reason why Mark Latham’s announced that we would ban junk food advertising during children’s viewing hours.

REPORTER:       Should we be spending more money on preventing these lifestyle diseases rather than pouring money into cures in other [inaudible]