The federal government is launching a first-of-its-kind PR campaign to revamp the sector’s image.
Today, the federal government launched an advertising campaign aimed at bolstering the primary healthcare workforce, one of the “three pillars” of its Strengthening Medicare agenda.
“The government’s own modelling shows that over the next decade, without action, we will be short about 70,000 nurses – 20,000 of them in the primary care sector – and about 5500 GPs,” said federal health minister Mark Butler at a press conference today.
By showcasing the “diverse, dynamic and rewarding career opportunities” in primary care, the government hopes to encourage students and current healthcare professionals to consider working in the sector.
The campaign also hopes to shift the public perception of primary health, namely general practice, nursing and midwifery, through TV, social media and billboard content.
There will also be a tailored First Nations campaign outlining the rewarding opportunities in primary health care in communities.
Mr Butler said the campaign would “raise the profile of GPs, nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, First Nations health practitioners and every single health professional”.
“Considering how critically important primary health care professions are, it seems incredible that we are the first Australian Government to run a careers campaign like this,” he said.
While there remained enormous pressure on primary care and general practice, the RACGP’s latest Health of the Nation Report showed that “the sentiment in the sector was starting to turnaround”, he said.
“Last year’s report showed that GPs were more satisfied. They were happier at work.
“Importantly, last year’s report showed that our existing general practice workforce was more likely to recommend general practice as a career to young doctors than they had been in previous years.”
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While pleased with the progress, Mr Butler admitted, “there is more to do, there is no question about that”.
RACGP president Dr Michael Wright said the growth of the specialist GP workforce needed to pick up to keep pace with the healthcare needs of patients.
“Our population is growing and ageing and we have an epidemic of chronic illnesses, which requires high-quality specialist GP care,” he said.
“This means we need to train more GPs, and we also need to promote the benefits of general practice as a career to attract future generations of doctors.
“Being a GP is one of the most rewarding careers, it offers great flexibility and variety, and the chance to build meaningful connections with your patients and community – we need to get this message out to those making career decisions.”
National ACCHO deputy CEO Dr Dawn Casey said it was important to work closely with communities to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people considering careers in primary healthcare.
“For many, it’s not a matter of going straight into university, but it’s about following a pathway in which they may start as an Aboriginal Health Worker and then go on to studying nursing or medicine,” she said.
According to Dr Casey, the First Nations Health Traineeships, funded by the federal government, showcased the success of working with Aboriginal communities to recruit staff for local ACCHOs.
“Already, we have over 300 trainees in place out of the 500 places available in the program. Many of these trainees will go on to become doctors and nurses,” she said.
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation federal secretary Annie Butler said the government needed to support a better primary healthcare workforce that “allows nurses and midwives to work to their full scope of practice”.
“Primary healthcare plays an integral role in preventing ill-health and promoting public health – that’s why it’s the best model of healthcare for the future,” she said.
“It’s also the most affordable and effective way of keeping people out of hospital.”
