The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine pre-budget submission actually calls for funding to assist GPs.
Without action in this year’s budget, funding for what the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) describes as a “vital” program teaching emergency skills to rural GPs will go up in smoke.
The federally funded Emergency Medicine Education and Training (EMET) scheme has been running since 2011, and allows nurses, doctors and paramedics working in MM2-7 regions to access ACEM-run training sessions free of charge.
By the ACEM’s reckoning, it has delivered 28,000 workshops, simulations and education sessions to roughly 250,000 rural, regional and remote healthcare workers.
It has also been the pathway to non-specialist emergency medicine qualifications for 1400 doctors.
Hospital and health services which have participated in the EMET program report fewer avoidably high-severity emergency incidents, earlier recognition and management of critical illness and improved diagnostic appropriateness.
“Almost one-third of Australians live in rural, regional and remote areas and the demand for emergency care per head of population in RRR areas is 27% higher than in cities, while the available emergency medicine specialist workforce is 22% lower,” ACEM president Dr Peter Allely told The Medical Republic.
“Workforce distribution is a major issue affecting rural healthcare … [and] funding for this vital locally based, hands-on training is uncertain after the end of 2026.
“While the lack of accessible primary care and preventative care contributes heavily to avoidable emergency presentations, there are also other issues driving demand, which also require investment.”
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More specifically, the ACEM is asking the federal government to extend funding for EMET by another three years – it is currently set to sunset in December – at a cost of $45.5 million.
It is also requesting a further $4.4m in funds to add another five hubs.
The emergency medicine college’s pre-budget submission also took a dig at the general practice MBS settings, which it said was failing older Australians.
“Recent changes to Medicare funding prioritise episodic care for short-term health problems, rather than the ongoing management of chronic and complex conditions required as people age,” the submission reads.
“In hospitals right across Australia, high-quality, longitudinal GP care delivered within multidisciplinary community teams is central to sustaining hospital services as the population ages.
“However, GPs are increasingly unable to sustain service provision to RACFs under current funding settings, a problem further compounded in [rural] areas.
“Maintaining the status quo in primary care funding will only reproduce existing access failures and continue to drive avoidable ED presentations and hospital admissions among older people.
“GPs must be adequately incentivised to provide longitudinal primary care within multidisciplinary models, particularly for frail older people living in RACFs.”
It even went so far as to call for a review of sustainable primary care models, including adequate remuneration for GPs.
