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GPs4RuralDocs – a GP service for rural health practitioners

What is GPs4RuralDocs?

GPs4RuralDocs is a GP service aimed specifically at rural doctors, nurses and allied health practitioners. We hope to provide Australia’s essential rural health workforce with the same high level of care that they provide their own patients.

The service is delivered by a team of doctors who understand rural practice and are trained in doctor-to-doctor care and mental health.

How does it work?

The visiting GPs hold clinics in various rural communities, multiple times a year, with telehealth services available between visits.

This combination of face-to-face and telehealth consultations allows the patient to develop continuity and trust with an independent GP trained in doctor-to-doctor care.

Why is GPs4RuralDocs such an essential program for rural doctors?

Like their patients, rural doctors face challenges in accessing healthcare. Being the only doctor in town or part of a small close-knit team of healthcare professionals, accessing independent and confidential healthcare isn’t easy.

This leaves most rural healthcare practitioners faced with the choice of either being seen by a colleague, or forced to travel to receive the level of independent care they provide their own patients.

These challenges impact both the individual and the communities they serve. It can lead to burnout and illness, forcing much-needed healthcare workers to leave their rural practices for extended periods of time.

GPs4RuralDocs results in healthy, resilient and accessible healthcare practitioners who are better equipped to care for their patients. In looking after the physical, mental health and overall wellbeing of our GPs and health practitioners, it reduces incidence of stress and burnout, and means they stay living and working in their rural communities.