Topic: Workforce

Future-proofing general practice: a deep dive on viability and sustainability 

Registrations are now open for SWSPHN’s annual conference, which this year focuses on: Future-proofing general practice: a deep dive on viability and sustainability.

The conference for GPs, practice managers and general practice staff, is being held at The William Inglis Hotel, Warwick Farm on Sunday, 18 October 2026, 8.30am for a 9am start, to 5.15pm.

Attendance is free and includes a complimentary lunch.

GPs will earn 6 RACGP-approved educational activities CPD hours.

Register for conference

SWSPHN’s 2026 conference is designed to support general practices with business and management strategies to support long-term sustainability. It will bring together GPs and general practice staff to focus on effective employment management, workflow efficiency, optimisation of MBS billing, and the use of AI and other digital health applications in primary healthcare.  

 

Why this is important: 

General practice in South Western Sydney is facing significant challenges, including: 

• workforce shortages due to high workloads, staff burnout and GP retirements (the median age of GPs in South Western Sydney is 54 years old) 
• practice closures due to workforce shortages and financial viability (59 practices in South Western Sydney have closed or amalgamated since 2023) 

As a result, patients are experiencing longer waiting times and reduced access to essential primary care services across the region.​  

 

By attending you’ll gain the knowledge and skills to:

• make your practice sustainable and viable, and create an effective workplace  
• enhance your practice’s use of clinical, digital (including artificial intelligence) and policy tools to support practice sustainability and compliance   
• develop practical strategies to effectively manage employment and strengthen your knowledge of the employment relationship  
• improve your confidence and accuracy to maximise MBS billing  
• navigate the Strengthening Medicare measures 

 

You will also:

• earn CPD hours while gaining practical strategies to apply to practice models   
• network with fellow GPs, practice managers and other general practice staff    

 

Attendees can look forward to expert-led sessions: 

Speakers will include:  

Greg Baker, AI Lecturer, Macquarie University; Eden Elliott-Griggs, Training and Development Manager, Wise Workplace Training; Kim Poyner, Director, MediCoach; and Wendy O’Meara, Primary Care Consultant (MBS Item specialist). 

Topics covered will include:

• how artificial intelligence is reshaping general practice 
• employment relationships using case studies 
• leadership which works in general practice 
• managing change in a rapidly evolving primary care environment 
• building stronger teams and smarter systems  
• navigating, decoding and maximising the value of the MBS 

The conference will include overall sessions of relevance to GPs, practice managers and other staff, in addition to concurrent sessions tailored for GPs and practice managers/general practice staff. 

 

Who is it for: 

Healthcare professionals working in general practice across South Western Sydney, in particular GPs, practice managers and reception staff.  

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When:  

Sunday, 18 October 2026, 8.30am for a 9am start, to 5.15pm 

Getting there: 

Address: The William Inglis Hotel, 155 Governor Macquarie Drive, Warwick Farm 

Rail:  The hotel is a 10-minute walk from Warwick Farm train station 

Drive: Free on-site parking: Find a route  

Bus: Check bus timetables: Find a route 

 

Seats are limited!

 

Register for conference

 

Enquiries: 

Email SWSPHN’s Primary Care Workforce team at  

cpd@swsphn.com.au 

 

Public Health Unit support for GPs is a key part of primary health in South Western Sydney, with Dr Rose Sacca offering a fitting analogy for how the Public Health Unit and general practice work together.

The staff specialist with South Western Sydney’s Local Health District says GPs and public health are both part of the wider community health team – looking after the same patients.

“Public health is the backstage crew of the medical world, because few patients know we exist, while GPs are the starring cast,’’ Dr Sacca says. “Because everyone knows and respects their GP.”

As a staff specialist with the Public Health Unit (PHU) Dr Sacca works across a broad range of areas.

“Public health has different roles depending on the country and its health system,’’ Dr Sacca said. “In Australia, we work across several areas and priority populations. It ranges from communicable disease, vaccination and environmental health to epidemiology and emergency management.

“We often focus on disadvantaged or priority populations and advocate for those who fall through the cracks of the broader healthcare system.

“This work encompasses a broad range of activities, from contact tracing an infectious exposure or environmental testing, to community outreach and ad hoc clinics.’’

Right now, Dr Sacca’s focus is health in the Pasifika community and rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease in South Western Sydney.

Her colleague, Dr Janelle Slattery, is leading the district response to congenital syphilis and the immunisation program funded by NSW Health.

The unit’s Acting Director, Dr Stephen Conaty, is an environmental health expert and, until recently, was the Director of Environmental Health for the state.

“We offer a range of support including advice on testing, diagnosing and treating notifiable diseases and support and advice on vaccination,’’ Dr Sacca said.

“Much of our work with GPs is due to vaccination or communicable diseases. Currently it’s syphilis, measles and pertussis. There are also often questions relating to travel and illness because we have a diverse population who frequently travel to visit friends and family or host international visitors in their household.

“We work on identifying future risks to public health, for example avian influenza, and providing an emergency response, as well as identifying and ameliorating any environmental health risk, such as cooling tower testing for Legionnaire’s disease. We are also keen on further education and teaching in these areas so try to do presentations, grand rounds and contribute to relevant HealthPathways as much as possible.’’

A long-term goal of the Public Health Unit is to develop an ongoing and interactive relationship with the region’s primary care providers by working more closely with SWSPHN.

“We both work to improve the health outcomes of the community as a whole and public health brings certain content knowledge, communication skills, wider health system data and stakeholder engagement,’’ Dr Sacca said.

“The PHN represents local primary care providers, especially GPs, and has access to primary care data and trends as well as helping to deliver primary care. They also offer federal stakeholder engagement and ongoing support and training to our region’s GPs. We both produce health reports and conduct research. We are committed to continue to collaborate in these valuable areas.’’

And the final message to GPs?

“We are very approachable so please contact us if you have any concerns,’’ Dr Sacca said. ‘’We look after the same communities and patients so we may contact you for clinical information or assistance in reaching patients.

“Australians have a high level of trust in their GPs. We absolutely cannot do our work without the help of GPs.’’

GPs can call the PHU on 1300 066 055 or email SWSLHD-PublicHealthUnit@health.nsw.gov.au. They also offer 24/7 cover for urgent public health issues such as a suspected case of measles. Call 8738 3000 and ask for the Public Health Officer on call.

 

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This article appeared in Practice Pulse on Wednesday, 29 April 2026. If you are a GP, practice nurse or practice manager in South Western Sydney and do not get the weekly Practice Pulse email, speak to your Practice Support Officer.

Are you, or someone you know, looking for a challenging, diverse and highly rewarding medical career?

Now is the perfect time to begin your GP or rural generalist journey.

Applications for the 2027 Australian General Practice Training (AGPT) Program with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) are now open and close Tuesday, 14 April.

Training locations for doctors who want to specialise as GPs or rural generalists are offered in South Western Sydney.

The SWSPHN region spans MMM1-MMM5 areas, including the following GP MM3+ catchments: Douglas Park-Appin (part), Bowral-Mittagong, Picton-Bargo, and Robertson-Kangaroo Valley.

Have it all with general practice. Discover a career you can tailor to your own interests, find diverse clinical experiences and build meaningful patient relationships.

Start your GP training journey today.

Apply at www.racgp.org.au/agpt or contact the RACGP team at becomeagp@racgp.org.au for more information.

Applications close 14 April 2026.

Learn more/apply

AGPT Program webinars

 

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.

 

 

A group of physicians and representatives from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University joined SWSPHN in Campbelltown last week to gain a deeper understanding of Australia’s primary healthcare system.

The roadshow began with a presentation from SWSPHN outlining how Australians access care through GPs, how Medicare supports the system and how primary care services are delivered across the country.

The presentation featured details about the health priorities in Australia, including the seven key priority areas the Commonwealth Government identified for Primary Health Networks (PHNs).

A brief introduction was delivered on our priorities:

1. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health
2. Alcohol and other drugs
3. Digital health
4. Health workforce
5. Older persons care
6. Population health
7. Mental Health

The United States guests also learned about the role of PHNs and how SWSPHN works closely with GPs, nurses, hospitals and community organisations to coordinate care and deliver targeted programs across South Western Sydney.

The presentation was followed by a panel discussion chaired by Dr Nir Menachemi of Indiana University.

The panelists, including local GPs, nurses and SWSPHN staff, shared their frontline experiences, prompting discussion about prevention, integrated care and the differences between the Australian and US healthcare systems.

SWSPHN’s Primary Care Workforce Manager, Bianca Walsh, said the event provided an important opportunity to showcase workforce planning in South Western Sydney, while also highlighting the vital role local communities play in shaping the health services which affect them.

“The visit was a valuable opportunity to share knowledge, highlight the strength of Australia’s community-based healthcare model, and strengthen international connections in primary care,” she said.

Visit our website to find out more about SWSPHNs Primary Care Workforce.