The manpower debate -- what is the current position in relation to general practice?

With the changing situation in medical manpower, it is important that a close watch be kept on the total number of medical practitioners in the community and their distribution between salaried and self-employed work, between hospital and community practice, between city and country practice, between general and specialist practice and between the general specialties and subspecialties. More accurate manpower data are now being sought by the Medical Boards and what must be emphasized is that the collection of these data has to be regular and ongoing, with surveys being conducted each year at the time of registration, and not just spasmodically as the need arises. The groups involved in planning for medical manpower must be able to work with accurate information. Australia is a long way from defining how many medical practitioners are needed in the community, and the RACGP is certainly a long way from defining the number of general practitioners who are needed. As a result, it is probably inappropriate at present to evaluate the current numbers of general practitioners against any stated level of adequacy.