tracy ellum's son harrison has asthma
and relies on seeing his gp to manage
his symptoms but that's been difficult
it's definitely been challenging getting
into the gp of late um we're finding you
know that we could be waiting up to a
week or two which obviously can be
concerning when you've got a chronic
medical condition such as asthma
it means i sometimes have to take days
off school it's a pattern occurring
across the country
former ama president dr makesh haikuwal
runs a busy gp practice southwest of
melbourne
he says a range of factors are causing
severe gp shortages and workforce
burnout people shock horror have decided
to take holidays after two and a half
years
so we have less left less doctors on
site on top of that demand is soaring
new data from the health engine booking
site shows in the last three years the
average wait time to see a gp in new
south wales has blown out to more than
four days in victoria it's now more than
three days and in wa wait times have
gone from two days to four
the data doesn't include people who
might phone for an appointment or who
decide to go to the emergency department
we are seeing a perfect storm of a whole
range of issues coming together at the
same time we're seeing the influenza
epidemic we're seeing the covert
pandemic we're seeing gps trying to make
up for the routine care that didn't
occur during lockdowns
doctors groups have been calling for a
substantial increase to the medicare
rebate for gps
we're seeing the chronic underfunding of
medicare meaning that young medical
graduates are not choosing general
practice as a career we're in danger of
running out of gps because of that the
federal government says 50 new urgent
care clinics it's setting up will be
bulk billed making it easier for people
to see a doctor
harrison and his mum hope the situation
will ease soon
sophie scott abc news
you