GPs in southern Queensland are experiencing a surge in demand, with some practices struggling to cope with 30% more patients than in pre-coronavirus times. 

Brisbane GP Dr Maria Boulton says practices around Australia could be going through a similar increase, with mental health presentations a major cause of the upswing. 

She has put on three new doctors in the past two months that has helped her practice to manage the influx.

But others further south on the Gold Coast and the Ipswich region, west of Brisbane, have been so overloaded they have reportedly had to turn away new patients.