New ad campaign to ‘raise the profile’ of primary healthcare

In a bid to encourage more people to join the primary healthcare workforce, a nationwide, first-of-its-kind advertising campaign has been launched, promoting the diversity of the professions.
 
RACGP President Dr Michael Wright, alongside a delegation of primary healthcare professionals, stood side-by-side with Federal Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler inside Canberra’s Parliament House to launch the ‘Primary healthcare careers’ campaign on Wednesday.
 
Specifically, it highlights the diversity that general practice, aged care, mental health services, nursing and midwifery, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations, and other community health settings offer.
 
The campaign aims to attract university health students and recent graduates and inspire current healthcare professionals to consider a career in primary healthcare.
 
It details the range of general practice opportunities, including rural generalism and specific interests, linking with the RACGP’s Become a GP campaign.
 
Minister Butler said the new campaign is designed to showcase the rewards and diversity of the primary healthcare sector, ‘one person and one case at a time’.
 
‘Considering how critically important primary healthcare professions are, it seems incredible that we are the first Australian Government to run a careers campaign like this,’ he said.
 
‘The campaign will elevate primary healthcare and raise the profile of GPs, nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, First Nations health practitioners and every single health professional.’


Federal Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler with RACGP representatives inside Federal Parliament. (Image: Jake Pinksier) 

In Canberra this week for the annual GPs@Parliament advocacy event, Dr Wright welcomed the launch of the campaign, using it to leverage the college’s calls to the Government ahead of the Federal Election.
 
‘We need to grow our specialist GP workforce faster to meet the increasing need for care across Australia,’ he said.
 
‘Our population is growing and ageing and we have an epidemic of chronic illnesses, which requires high-quality specialist GP care.
 
‘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.’
 
An overarching advocacy theme in the college’s Federal Election Platform, launched in Canberra on Tuesday, is calling for significant investment into primary care, including a funding boost to support an additional 1500 places over five years on the Australian General Practice Training Program.
 
Aligning with its focus on attracting, training and retaining more GPs, the RACGP says this will enable more Australians easier access to GPs and prevent emergency department presentations and hospitalisations.
 
‘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,’ Dr Wright said.
 
‘We need to get this message out to those making career decisions.’
 
Case studies of health professionals making a difference in their communities are featured in the campaign, which will be delivered via television advertisements, social media, digital video and billboards around TAFEs, universities and hospitals, and translated into a range of languages.
 
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