Rural snapshot reveals 8% increase in GP numbers

GPs are returning to the bush, and while this trend has been labelled ‘especially pleasing’ after years of doctor maldistribution, keeping up with demand remains a challenge.
 
That is according to the Health Workforce Queensland (HWQ) 2024–25 annual report, offering a snapshot of the GP workforce in rural and regional areas of the state.

And while it is only Queensland under the report’s microscope, a similar trend is being felt across many other areas of Australia.
 
HWQ’s database covers all GPs working across Modified Monash (MM) 2–7 areas, including those in private practices, small hospitals, the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, as well as other healthcare professions.
 
It found GP numbers have increased across rural and regional Queensland, rising by 8% over the last five years.
 
Practitioners reported improved wellbeing compared to two years ago, but continued to face barriers to mental health care, including privacy concerns, workforce shortages, and cost.
 
However, ‘supply is not keeping pace with demand’.
 
The report found the GP workforce gap overall has increased by 16% since 2020 and revealed a 5.3% decrease in GPs reporting private general practice as their primary role in remote and very remote areas.
 
And ‘retention remains a challenge’, with 31% of practitioners planning to stay less than three years in their current location. 
 
But overall, RACGP Rural Chair Associate Professor Michael Clements labelled the data ‘exciting’, saying he has seen firsthand more doctors moving out into the regions.
 
‘Even in my patch in northwest Queensland, in my own practices and in the practices around me, the lack of workforce that we experienced three, four years ago, maybe even two years ago – it really feels like the sting is out of that,’ he told newsGP.
 
‘Certainly, there’s still some capacity for more trainees, but many of the practices are getting doctors and we are seeing them filter out slowly to the more rural areas.
 
‘And in even better news, our AGPT intake for next year is the biggest ever … we’re actually starting to see some growth and certainly next year’s training data backs that up.’
 
However, Associate Professor Clements also acknowledged that this positive news is not the case in all areas of Queensland, and Australia more broadly.
 
Practices continue to close their doors across the country, with many citing struggles recruiting long-term staff, and healthcare services in rural and remote areas continuing to miss out on billions of dollars in funding each year.
 
But Associate Professor Clements said in the towns that have attracted additional GPs, they have provided ‘reassurance on multiple levels’.
 
‘It’s reassuring that the Government is listening to us, that what we’ve advised them is working,’ he said.
 
‘But it’s also fantastic for communities – we’ve got communities that are used to feeling more and more like there’s never any hope that they’re never going to get access to a doctor, and they’ve now got appointments again.
 
‘On the ground, this is certainly excellent news for many of the communities, not all, and there are still many pockets that need some extra support, but overall, this is excellent news.’

This year, for the first time since 2015, overseas-trained GPs outnumbered Australian-trained GPs in Queensland’s remote and rural areas, the report also revealed.
 
GPs in MM 2–7 Queensland hailed from more than 75 countries, with 51.2% from Oceania, including 48.7% from Australia, 30% trained in Asia, 9.9% in Europe, 7.7% in Africa, and 1.2% in North and South America.
 
‘These reports provide a clear and evolving picture of Queensland’s remote and rural health landscape, helping shape responsive, data-driven approaches to workforce development and service delivery,’ the report concluded.
 
HWQ Chair Ross Maxwell said he is ‘especially encouraged’ by a significant improvement in recruitment, including placing GPs in remote and rural communities facing ongoing challenges with accessing primary healthcare workforces.
 
‘These placements provide improved continuity of care and allow us to make a meaningful impact where access to primary healthcare is often limited,’ he said.
 
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