Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, may I add my congratulations to you for your elevation to this role.

As a proud Northern Tasmanian, I will always fight for what our community needs. Right now one of the biggest challenges facing our region—as it has been for many, many years—is access to health care and, specifically, general practitioner services. Tasmania, and Northern Tasmania in particular, is a wonderful place to live. I think it's the best place to live in Australia. However, I don't shy away from the fact that the rates of many chronic health conditions—including arthritis; asthma; cancer; heart, stroke and vascular disease; and osteoporosis—are higher in our state than the national average. Combined with the highest proportion of the population aged over 50 and with significant socioeconomic factors, this is undoubtedly putting a strain on our health system.

Since I was elected in 2019—right back to my first speech, in fact—I've been committed to doing what I can to address the challenges related to our healthcare system and, in particular, the challenges that exist within the public hospital system. In the many conversations I've had within our community, I've heard time and time again that people will avoid going to a doctor if they can't be bulk-billed or access a local doctor. Inevitably, when left untreated, whatever health challenges they are having will lead them to the emergency department of our hospital. Although data from the last decade shows GP numbers in Australia have increased at triple the rate of the population, unfortunately the bulk of this growth has been in capital cities. Additionally, from many discussions with health professionals at the coalface of the system, it's clear that in order to at least partially take the pressure off the hospital we need to create a primary health system that is more equitable and accessible to the community.

Over two years ago I met with Tasmanian branch members of the AMA and engaged in a direct, open conversation about the complexities of the health system in the Northern Tasmanian region, many of which were also raised by GPs directly with Minister Hunt during his visit in September 2019. One of the challenges faced by GPs in our region, which has been raised with me many times, is the challenge of recruitment and retention of GPs, some of which is a result of the classification certain areas receive under the Modified Monash Model. With Launceston and many surrounding areas falling under a tier 2 classification—the same as Hobart—we're often competing with our capital city for doctors, a problem that also exists at the Launceston General Hospital when trying to attract specialists. After speaking with practices in Northern Tasmania—including from Summerhill, Prospect, Lilydale and Mowbray—I brought together a number of general practices via videoconference with the department and the then minister for regional health, Mark Coulton, where many of the issues could be discussed at length. At the end of last year, after many months of advocacy I was pleased to secure a new initiative fund to attract doctors to Launceston and across northern Tasmania to address some of the longstanding GP shortages in the region.

Addressing the maldistribution of GPs and health professionals in Australia is complex and requires a mix of short-, medium- and long-term solutions. I'm committed to bringing some permanent solutions to these challenges to the people of Bass. In particular, I'm looking forward to reviewing the recommendations of the recent inquiry by the Senate Community Affairs References Committee into the provision of general practitioner and related primary health services to outer metropolitan, rural and regional Australians. Its report is due to be handed down in March next year.

Lastly, I do think there is some opportunity to look at how we can leverage the capability and expertise of community pharmacists to take some of the additional pressure off the health system. This year we've seen pharmacists play a critical role in helping to keep our community safe and healthy as they've assisted in the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccinations. From talking with many community pharmacists, I know that they are ready and willing to play a more active role in providing key health services, and I will be raising this further with the minister as we work together on finding sustainable solutions to GP accessibility and affordability in the northern Tasmania region.