Health groups in Alice Springs are worried that concerns about crime and a lack of incentives, are keeping new doctors from moving to the region. The peak body for GPs is urging governments to do more to attract doctors to the red centre, as a chronic health crisis continues to worsen in surrounding communities.
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00:00Alice Springs' crime was dominating the headlines when Dr Lena Renick decided to pack up her young family and move to the outback town.
00:10I have learnt so much more than I could have ever learnt staying home in Melbourne.
00:16Lena has since fallen in love with the region and extended her contract, but she's concerned recent negative coverage and a lack of incentives are keeping other young GPs away.
00:28It's a hard job. We're all pretty tired.
00:31According to the National Professional Body for General Practitioners, the NT is currently about 80 GPs short of the minimum numbers needed to fill clinics.
00:41They say while most GPs end up staying once they experience the patch, the struggle is attracting doctors in the first place.
00:49A lot of them are young and have young children and read the news and don't, I guess, understand quite how unaffected most people living in Central Australia are.
01:00The RACGP has started offering $10,000 grants to GPs moving to the region, but it's becoming increasingly tough to compete with other jurisdictions as some offer up to $40,000 to GPs in training.
01:15The college is calling on governments to do more to attract GPs to Central Australia, including accommodation and transport for doctors looking to try out the region.
01:25Both sides of politics have promised action, but those on the front line say change can't come soon enough amid a worsening chronic health crisis in local Indigenous communities.
01:37GPs are the sort of essential bedrock of the health system in Australia. Hospitals sort of pick up the issues when there's no GPs. Good care by GPs is an essential health problem. It keeps a lot of people out of hospital.
01:52A region crying out for a cure.