There are certain services you just can’t live without. One of them is health.A Whitsunday doctor - who sees up to 60 patients each day - says the answer to the severe shortage of GPs in regional areas lies in the hands of the federal government.
Principal GP at the 121 Medical Centre in Cannonvale, Dr Yehia
El-Baky, says it’s no longer "humanly possible" to continue working at the rate he and his colleague have been for the past number of years.
El-Baky, says it’s no longer "humanly possible" to continue working at the rate he and his colleague have been for the past number of years.
"I am not asking for a new doctor, just a replacement after one of my doctors left," says Dr El-Baky who admits he is considering closing his popular practise two days a week because of mounting pressure.
Dr El-Baky says the answer to the doctor shortage right across the nation lies with the federal government’s refusal to relax certain laws that allow overseas practitioners to work in Australia.
"We can’t get Australian doctors … even with the $40,000 incentive to live in regional areas, for some reason they just don’t want to come here. But overseas, there are fully qualified doctors working in service stations, shop fronts, waiting for the okay to come to Australia and practise," he said.
"The government tells us we have about 23,000 people in this region who will need to see a GP, but this is not the actual population. We have 600,000 visitors to the region each year and about 10 per cent of those will need to see a doctor during their visit," he said.
This plight led Dr El-Baky to seek help from the member for Dawson George Christensen who will take a petition to the government outlining the unsustainable situation in the Whitsundays.
"The petition outlines the number of GPs that are overworked, in some instances attending to patients for up to 12 hours a day, and the pressure being placed on the tax-payer funded health system," Mr Christensen said.
The principal petitioner will be Jason Costigan, the LNP candidate for Whitsunday.
"Losing a doctor is of grave concern to many people in regional communities and the Airlie Beach area is no different. I think the good doctor has raised a valid point in saying tourist numbers should also be taken into account, not just the resident population," Mr Costigan said.
"If we keep losing doctors, it can only put more pressure on Proserpine Hospital, hardly an ideal situation."
The petition will be available in a number of surgeries around the Whitsundays.
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