00:02Dr Cathy Welch's new office in Strawn is a world away from her last clinic in Scotland.
00:09The recently arrived GP says remote communities are best served by a doctor who lives locally.
00:16Living in the area you start to realise all the benefits that are there that are hidden to people outside,
00:24those connections that can be helpful for communities.
00:27The West Coast town relied on visiting locum GPs for almost a decade,
00:32which meant patients had to repeat themselves to each new visiting doctor.
00:37Some people just avoid doing that, so they avoid seeking medical help if they think it's going to be something
00:43different.
00:43So that continuity is really important for access to healthcare.
00:49Nicole Rasmussen owns a takeaway shop in Strawn.
00:54She knows how locals can be affected by that lack of continuity in their healthcare.
00:59Your healthcare is personal, so you want to, you don't want to, you know,
01:04having to go into a different stranger every time you've got to go to the doctor about something.
01:08She welcomes Dr Welch's arrival.
01:11Having a local, someone that's becoming part of the community, it'll be a big benefit to the community.
01:17The problem of not having a permanent local GP is not unique to Strawn.
01:23The Federal Government recently estimated a shortage of more than 2,400 doctors around the country,
01:28with rural and regional towns bearing the brunt.
01:31The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners believes better incentives and training programs are slowly reversing that trend.
01:39I'm strongly confident that over the next 10 years, with the increase in training numbers that we've seen in Australia
01:45and certainly in Tasmania,
01:47that we'll definitely be having doctors in all of those regions that we haven't been able to have them in
01:51in the past.
01:51I'm pleased.
01:52Thank you very much.
01:53Thank you very much.
01:54Thank you very much.
01:55You
