Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to speak about the shortage of doctors in the south-west of Western Australia, particularly in my electorate of Forrest. We certainly have a distinct shortage of doctors, even throughout the rural towns and communities. It is an issue that comes through my office on a regular basis. I actually have people ringing my office to see whether I know where they can get a doctor’s appointment. It is not unusual for people to wait between two and five weeks, and sometimes more, to see a doctor. In fact, some people have been looking to see a doctor outside their immediate area.

June Foulds from the Greater Bunbury Division of General Practice has advised me that the latest statistics show that Bunbury’s ratio of GPs to residents is one of the worst in Western Australia. Bunbury is a regional centre for the south-west and it is a regional health centre. It is a regional campus for health. Its postcode does not always reflect the numbers of patients that are drawn from other areas, which often makes it difficult when assessing the various ratios. In 2006 the city had a ratio of one doctor to every 1,612 people, which is well above the national ratio of one doctor to 1,172 people, according to the Primary Health Care Research and Information Service. That is over 27 per cent above the national average. The Greater Bunbury Division of General Practice Chief Executive, June Foulds, has said that the district is at least 11 doctors short of what is required.

We have many doctors who need to work part time and we have some who are particularly loyal. We have one very senior aged gentleman, Dr Manea. He is an icon. He is part of the region. I would say that Dr Manea would be in his 80s. He is completely devoted to his patients and will not give up practice while those same patients do not have an alternative doctor to see.

The shortage of doctors is significant right throughout my electorate, certainly not just in Bunbury. Potentially 30 per cent of the patients that are seen by Bunbury doctors come from outside the Bunbury 6230 postcode area. That is the situation for health care in my electorate.