Our guest expert Peter has answered your question below, Michael.
You’re spot on, and the data backs you up.
People in rural areas get much less specialist care, and the places with the least care of all are almost all in rural areas. Half of remote and very remote areas receive less than one specialist service per person a year. There’s nowhere in a major city with that little care.
There are a couple of good ways to fix this.
One is to train more specialists in rural areas, which makes them more likely to stay there when they finish their training. Governments should set targets for rural training, and tie funding for training places to meeting those targets.
Another solution is building up public clinics in the areas with the least care. Today, the areas with the least private care don’t get more public care. That’s one big reason for the long waits in many rural areas. Governments should set a minimum level of care that every community can expect. Then areas with the least care should be the first to get more public appointments.
New public clinics in rural areas might have to run a bit differently, for example using more telehealth. But the key is committing to a minimum level of care, investing in more public appointments, and making sure they go to the communities that need them most.