Victoria’s healthcare system is “fundamentally broken,” GP says

When Jacqueline Altree took maternity leave last November, patients at Terang Medical Clinic faced waits of three or four months for routine appointments, including prescription renewals and blood-pressure checks. Even after the regional GP returned, patients still waited about two weeks to see their preferred doctor, with further staff changes expected to lengthen the queue.

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That's most of what I see, and that's most of what I feel anxious about when I know there is a big waitlist to get in to see me.

Altree said the delays put people managing chronic illnesses at risk. She worries that some patients may go without care until their conditions require hospital treatment. “What are we missing, what aren't we caring for, what is going to need to go to hospital because I physically can't see any more patients?” she said.

She also believes more people are turning up at emergency departments because they cannot see a doctor quickly. “People are presenting to ED sicker and later, because they couldn't get appropriate care earlier,” Altree said. Regional hospitals have already reported high demand and long waits, while staff at several emergency departments say they are at breaking point.

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What are we missing, what aren't we caring for, what is going to need to go to hospital because I physically can't see any more patients?

Hundreds of GPs walked off the job for four hours at emergency departments in Ballarat and Bendigo to protest pay and working conditions. The Rural Workforce Association of Victoria’s latest census found critical gaps in GP roles across the state, apart from the Baw Baw area. Commonwealth data also showed fewer doctors per person in Victoria’s rural and remote communities than in metropolitan and regional centers.

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People are presenting to ED sicker and later, because they couldn't get appropriate care earlier.

Casterton illustrates the consequences of the shortage. The far south-west town had no GP for six months in 2024 after its long-serving doctor retired, and temporary locums did not fully cover the gap. Patients who could not travel an hour to Hamilton or Mount Gambier went without care. Andrea Cumming, practice manager at Edgar House Medical, called the situation “absolutely dreadful” and said people’s health was at risk when they could not see a doctor. The town now has three doctors, but doctors and GP groups warn that emergency-department pressures will continue unless primary care is supported.

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Absolutely dreadful.