Concerns from rural GPs about diabetes plans

A new diabetes plan for Australia is raising concern amongst rural doctors, who claim that diabetes patients could be left worse off outside urban centres. The $436 million proposal could give doctors a fixed payment to treat a diabetic if the health of the patient improves.
However, an expert from the Rural Doctors Associatio, Dr. Nola Maxfield, reportedly commented: “People who live in rural areas tend to be older and they tend to be sicker and have poorer health outcomes already. They also have less access to doctors and to diabetes educators and allied health people.”
Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon rejected these claims by commenting: “This was recommended by our health reform commission whose report was released in July last year. The chair of the AMA’s division of general practice was on that committee and recommended voluntary enrolment for chronic disease .”