GP numbers flatline while other specialists soar
Health economists tip increased competition in the non-GP sector
22nd June 2018
The number of specialists in Australia is growing 10 times faster than the number of GPs, new figures reveal.
Numerous international studies document how increasing the number of primary care doctors results in better health outcomes overall.
Conversely, increasing the number of other specialists is linked not just to higher costs, but also poorer quality of care and higher overall mortality (see here).
But from 2005