A PETITION led by Federal Member for Fisher, Andrew Wallace, to amend rules that deny crucial financial incentives to attract GPs to Montville has been rebuffed.
Under so-called Modified Monash Model rules, Montville is essentially an urban area, while nearby Maleny is classified as rural and entitled to greater incentives to subsidise GPs.
This largely resulted in the closure of Montville’s only medical centre earlier this year and that plus the impending introduction of 60-day dispensing rules, then resulted in the closure of the town’s only pharmacy, which will soon merge with Mapleton. A petition, which attracted over 770 signatures, was tabled by Mr Wallace in parliament last month and a response was issued last week.
While the response from Mr Butler’s office offered no immediate hope for the area, it did state there was an impending review of the MMM model that would be used with updated census data.
“The current MMM utilises demographic data from the 2016 Census and will shortly be updated using newly available data from the 2021 Census,” the letter from Mr Butler’s acting chief of staff Clare Firth stated.
“The Distribution Working Group (DWG), an independent expert committee that advises the Government on health workforce distribution policy, has discussed the concerns that towns have raised regarding their MMM classification. The DWG agreed that as the MMM is purely a data-based geographical classification system, discretionary changes cannot be made to
the MMM classification of an area and that changes would only occur after ABS Census data becomes available.
“Importantly, the DWG did agree that any discretion should be made within the context of individual programs when reviewing program guidelines or objectives, and areas raising concerns should contact individual program administrators.
“As such, medical practices and practitioners in these areas can seek a review of their eligibility for specific programs from the Department of Health and Aged Care.”
Census data shows only a marginal increase in Montville’s population, from 970 in 2016 to 1,092 in 2021.
“To support the Government’s ongoing work to improve the quality, distribution and planning of the Health Workforce, a review of the operation and impact of distribution levers is expected to commence in the next few months,” Ms Firth wrote.
“This includes the MMM classification system to ensure it remains an optimal tool for the purposes of health workforce policy.
“The review will incorporate stakeholder feedback and examine potential improvements to the MMM’s methodology and its application.”