Australia has too many doctors, says Chief Medical Officer
Professor Brendan Murphy told a Senate Estimates meeting that the medics were just in the 'wrong spot'
Australia has a surplus of doctors, despite there being on-going GP shortages in regional and rural areas, says the Chief Medical Officer.
Professor Brendan Murphy also suggested some general practices had built their business models on the back of overseas doctors, in some cases in areas with a glut of GPs.
He made the claims during Senate Estimates on 3 March when asked to explain the new Distribution Priority Area (DPA) system for determining areas underserviced by GPs.
Following the change, 106 locations gained DPA access, while 230 lost priority access status that meant they could recruit overseas doctors.
