Much-needed new Tassie GPs bolstering state’s workforce

In an ‘essential’ boost to Tasmania’s healthcare, the RACGP has welcomed 40 new specialist GP Fellows to the profession.
 
After more than a decade of study, the latest group of Fellows were celebrated at a ceremony in Hobart on Saturday, which included four new rural generalists.
 
Their graduation comes at a time when Tasmania continues to experience a significant shortage of GPs, with only around 106 GPs for every 100,000 people working in the state, below the national average of 119.
 
RACGP Tasmania Chair Dr Toby Gardner said the state’s newest GPs are ‘essential for Tasmania’ and for the general practice care that keeps patients out of busy hospitals.
 
‘Being a GP is such a rewarding career. It’s a genuine privilege keeping our patients healthy over their lifetime,’ he said.
 
‘Governments must deliver long-term, holistic solutions to the workforce issues facing our state, not makeshift fixes.
 
‘I’m proud to have moved to Tasmania, and the state needs to make it more appealing for doctors to move here, as well as do all it can to support our junior doctors to train as GPs.’
 
State Health Minister Guy Barnett also attended the ceremony, saying he wishes the new Fellows all the best in ‘delivering the healthcare that Tasmanians need and deserve.’
 
Several awards were handed out at the ceremony, including Tasmanian General Practitioner of the Year, which went to Dr Emil Djakic, RACGP Expert Committee – Funding and Health System Reform Deputy Chair.
 
‘As a child in Launceston from a non-medical family, my view of the health system was “casualty”,’ Dr Djakic said. 
 
‘Our family doctor – Dr Stewart – I think my image of a real doctor was his influence.’


The new Fellows have undertaken 11 years of study to receive Fellowship. (Image: supplied)
 
But Dr Djakic said a lot needs to change, especially in Tasmania, to improve general practice care, including a significant and urgent funding injection.
 
‘Underinvestment in general practice by successive governments is inevitably leading to structural failures in health,’ he said.
 
‘It’s either short-termism to chase a “productivity dividend”, or a belief non-GP providers can deliver good-enough outcomes at lower cost.
 
‘It’s a challenge, but I’m passionate about showing funders GPs are the way to deliver a healthy, happy, and productive population at a bargain price. It’s vital work.’
 
The Tasmanian General Practice of the Year award went to Beaconsfield Family Medical Practice, led by practice principal Dr Prashanth Reddy Gangapuram.
 
Dr Reddy, as he is known to his patients, only took over the practice in 2023 as a solo GP but in little over one year he has grown the clinic to now include four full-time GPs and integrated allied health services.
 
Tasmania’s General Practitioner in Training of the Year award was given to Dr James Tan, and Dr Diane Hintum at Summerdale Medical Centre was named Tasmanian General Practice Supervisor of the Year for her role in supporting and mentoring her GPs in training.
 
RACGP Vice President and Rural Chair Associate Professor Michael Clements travelled to Hobart for the occasion and said that Tasmania especially is in need of more GPs.
 
‘With a higher burden of chronic disease than other states and an ageing population, the GPs Fellowing today and those who will follow them could not be more essential to the future of the state,’ he said.
 
‘If patient cannot access a local GP who knows them and their medical history, communities become unsustainable.
 
‘The rural barriers to health become too high, and there’s no other type of health support that can offer a substitute for the care of a GP.’
 
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Fellowship FRACGP new Fellows Tasmania