To the Editor: In 1997 an analysis of the medical workforce in North Queensland showed that Townsville's 125 000 people were served by about 180 GPs providing about 120 full-time-equivalent (FTE) GP workloads. A doctor–population ratio (DPR) of about 1: 1000 was evidence of some sort that the community was reasonably well served, at least according to benchmarks of the time. As a result, the "area of need" status was removed from many North Queensland centres, a decision reinforced by similar findings from the Australian Medical Workforce Advisory Committee (AMWAC) report released soon after.1 Further, the AMWAC report was the basis of a decision not to increase the number of GP vocational training places in the region, even though there is spare capacity and the program is one of the more successful in terms of retention of rural GPs.2
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- 1. Australian Medical Workforce Advisory Committee. The medical workforce in rural and remote Australia. AMWAC Report 1996.8. Sydney: The Committee, 1997.
- 2. McKenzie AJ, Hays RB, Jones BF, et al. Training for rural general practice in North Queensland. Med J Aust 2000; 172: 459.
- 3. Access Economics. An analysis of the widening gap between community need and the availablilty of GP services. A report to the Australian Medical Association. Canberra: Access Economics, February 2002.
- 4. Hays RB, Veitch PC, Franklin L, Crossland L. Methodological issues in medical workforce research: implications for regional Australia. Aust J Rural Health 1998; 6: 32-35.