{"id":656460,"date":"2026-05-07T22:52:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T22:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/656460\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T22:52:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T22:52:20","slug":"nsw-councils-call-for-gp-guarantee-to-address-regional-health-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/656460\/","title":{"rendered":"NSW councils call for ‘GP guarantee’ to address regional health crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

The peak body for councils in NSW is calling for a “GP guarantee” and a $1.18 billion state government investment to improve health services in regional areas.<\/p>\n

The initiative calls for a GP to be available in every town, through a targeted $200 million investment, creating new regional training pathways, while improving support for current and training doctors and struggling practices.<\/p>\n

Local Government NSW (LGNSW) on Thursday launched the six-point plan, partly modelled on a Rural Health Strategy and ‘GP guarantee’ proposed by state Wagga Wagga MP Joe McGirr.<\/p>\n

Reimbursements for local councils forced to fill funding gaps to maintain essential health services, investments into maternity and in-home aged care, as well as new patient transport services, are also included in LGNSW’s plan.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

LGNSW announced its six-point rural and regional health action plan on Thursday. (Supplied: LGNSW)<\/p>\n

GP guarantee<\/p>\n

Dr McGirr said the GP guarantee initiative could deliver these doctors by improving current pathways, calling for the state government to lead a new coordinated approach.<\/p>\n

“At the moment, NSW Health says we run hospitals, we don’t do primary health care, the Commonwealth says we run primary health care but don’t fund health services,” he said.<\/p>\n

“As a result, communities are left wondering how do we get the right skilled practitioners in our communities, and that’s why we have gaps throughout rural NSW.<\/p>\n

“It isn’t a question of money, it’s a question of coordination, someone taking responsibility.”\"a<\/p>\n

Joe McGirr supports Local Government NSW’s plan and says he has worked with regional councils to advocate for better regional health care. (ABC News: Jak Rowland)<\/p>\n

He said an improved system was needed to help graduates gain rural primary health care skills, then guide them into roles in high-demand areas.<\/p>\n

“They’ve got to be supported by the community, have career paths, they’ve got to be linked to the hospital and supported in the hospital, and the hospital itself has to have services that support them,” Dr McGirr said.<\/p>\n

Narrandera Mayor Neville Kschenka said his town in the NSW Riverina had one medical centre, which struggled to hire and retain doctors.<\/p>\n

“It’s difficult to get an appointment in time \u2026 we’re finding people have to go out of town and that’s not good for them and not good for our town,” he said.<\/p>\n

The NSW government currently offers up to $20,000 for doctors moving to some regional areas through the Rural Health Incentives Scheme.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Neville Kschenka says residents are often forced to travel out of Narrandera for GP appointments and health care. (ABC Riverina: Nicola Ceccato)<\/p>\n

But Cr Kschenka said a more targeted funding model would be more effective.<\/p>\n

“Each region should be funded in a way that attracts doctors who stay there,” he said.<\/p>\n

National Rural Health Alliance chairperson Heather Keighley said she welcomed the plan, but financial incentives were just part of the solution.<\/p>\n

“It’s not only about the money,” she said.<\/p>\n

“You definitely need more emphasis on childcare and housing \u2026 and support for people transitioning to the rural environment.<\/p>\n

“There are multiple layers required to help fix this problem, and it’s not going to get better \u2026 until something major is done.”<\/p>\n

Ms Keighley said GPs were just “one part of the puzzle”.<\/p>\n

\"Heather<\/p>\n

Heather Keighley welcomes the six-point plan on behalf of the Rural Health Alliance. (Supplied: Heather Keighley)<\/p>\n

“There are other nurses and services that can deliver some of these services,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We talk about mid wife-led care but there’s also such thing as nurse-led care that can help with those general practice services \u2026 there are some elements in general practice that a multi-disciplinary team could service.”<\/p>\n

In a statement, NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said the state government was “making record investments into regional health”, including more than 1,000 new scholarships for regional health workers.<\/p>\n

He said $200 million had been invested in key health worker accommodation and $55 million on patient transport, while rural health incentives had doubled.<\/p>\n

He said more than 11,000 health workers have received recruitment or retention packages in “hardest-to-fill and critically vacant positions across rural and remote NSW.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Ryan Park says the state government has committed record spending on regional health. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Billion-dollar shortfall absorbed by local government<\/p>\n

A new report from the National Rural Health Alliance said there was a $8.35 billion disparity between health spending in regional areas compared to the cities, equating to around $1,000 less per person.<\/p>\n

LGNSW said local councils have been forced to absorb some of those infrastructure costs, like subsidising running costs of medical facilities, workforce housing and assistance with transport.<\/p>\n

They have proposed $20 million in state government reimbursements and a new $150 million health transport service.<\/p>\n

“We provide subsidies for accommodation, one of the things the council does do well is community transport and that allows people who travel from other towns and centres,” Cr Kschenka said.<\/p>\n

The health minister did not respond to questions regarding funding for local councils.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The peak body for councils in NSW is calling for a “GP guarantee” and a $1.18 billion state…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656461,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[64,63,11915,317417,137,500,317413,317415,8829,317416,8830,317418,317414],"class_list":["post-656460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-doctor-shortage","tag-gp-shortage","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-local-government-regional-health-action-plan","tag-narrandera-health-crisis","tag-regional-health","tag-regional-health-crisis","tag-rural-health","tag-specialist-shortage","tag-state-government-health-plan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}