Identifying challenges – but more importantly – solutions for attracting and retaining a bigger general practice workforce in Greater Western Sydney (GWS) was on the agenda at the Western Sydney Health Alliance’s GP Roundtable on Tuesday, 24 February.
The GP roundtable brought together 35 representatives from general practice, primary health networks (PHNs), local health districts, universities and councils, at Campbelltown Arts Centre. Macarthur MP, Dr Mike Freelander, also joined the event to hear first-hand the obstacles general practices are facing.
Feedback from the roundtable will help inform the GWS Primary Healthcare Workforce Strategy, a formal collaboration between Nepean Blue Mountains PHN, South Western Sydney PHN and Western Sydney PHN.
SWSPHN Director of Innovation and Partnerships, Kristen Short, told participants the collaboration of PHNs aimed to address the unique primary healthcare challenges outer metropolitan Sydney faced compared to Sydney.
“A lot of the concern that comes through in the media is around workforce challenges in regional and rural areas,” she said. “Those pressures are being felt right across the system. We are experiencing similar workforce challenges, alongside rapid population growth that is increasing demand for primary care.”
Ms Short said outer metropolitan Sydney took in three of the biggest population growth corridors in Australia.
This comes alongside a growing rate of chronic disease and diverse communities who face barriers to equitable healthcare such as language or culture, lower health literacy, and difficulties navigating an unfamiliar healthcare system.
“We need to work out how we tap into that fantastically diverse community because care can be provided in different ways,” Ms Short said. “We want to help the community support themselves, as well as making sure the formal healthcare workforce is available.”
Ms Short said the collaboration was valuable because it enabled:
- shared labour market and training pipelines
- consistent regional planning and alignment
- stronger evidence base and collective impact
Western Sydney Health Alliance Program Manager and roundtable facilitator, Gautami Motupally, welcomed participants saying it was a privilege to have such a wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise in the room.
“I want to touch on some of the bigger issues our communities are facing – wait lists, the cost of GPs or community members having to travel long distances to access primary care,” she said.
Ms Motupally said these issues had been of concern to councils, LHDs and PHNs across the region, and had resulted in the conception of the GP roundtable which brought together key stakeholders to discuss what they could do to “shift the dial”.
“We’re looking for practical, realistic joint actions that we can take,” she said.
“That is what the roundtable is – identifying barriers for recruiting and retaining GPs, thinking about the resources we do have and looking at ways we can work together to put projects into action an reduce the GP shortages in our region.”
Challenges identified through some of the robust group discussions included:
- the reality and negative narrative of GPs being over worked and underpaid
- a lack of rotations in primary care which meant students were seeing the “bright lights” of other specialities before being exposed to the opportunities in general practice
- the potential to earn more in other regions
The group worked on a set of practical, collaborative project concepts aligned with the levers and remit of stakeholders in the room, with a focus on collective action which could be piloted within the next 12 months.
Solutions and project ideas identified included:
- fostering supportive cultures within practices to help support and retain GPs
- improved data visibility looking at student retention and movement in the region to inform where investment and resources are needed
- engaging with doctors in training earlier, with GP mentorship opportunities and promoting the work-life balance general practice offered
- co-funded incentives to stay in the region in terms of liveability, spousal employment, office space and housing, with shared responsibilities between stakeholders
- investing in place-based training as an opportunity to incentivise working in the area longer term
The Western Sydney Health Alliance will consolidate the results from the roundtable into a findings report before further consultation is conducted, including a steering committee review, to identify one or more feasible projects to lead.
The report and the identified projects will then be communicated to all stakeholders and roundtable attendees. Insights will also be used in the development of the GWS Primary Care Workforce Strategy.