GP shortage leaves Warrnambool clinic unable to meet demand

King Street Medical Clinic practice manager Anita Singh said until now, efforts to recruit new doctors had proved fruitless.

"We are still turning away numerous inquiries each day from new patients," Mrs Singh said.

"Unfortunately with Warrnambool's expanding population, the number of GPs is still lacking.

"This is a long-standing issue and there are no signs the shortage will ease anytime soon."

Mrs Singh said the clinic had been operating with one doctor - her husband Dr Surinder Singh - since it opened more than four years ago.

Recently, Dr Cameron McPherson closed the doors at Shearwater Medical in Port Fairy and joined the Warrnambool practice.

Mrs Singh is a diabetes educator, as is Dr McPherson's wife Linda McPherson, who has also joined the practice.

She said it was great to have extra staff to meet the growing needs of the community.

"Dr McPherson gave up on Shearwater Medical - not for a lack of love for what he'd created but because he realised that recruiting was not going to get any easier," Mrs Singh said.

"The days of a solo GP practice are well and truly over.

"The rising cost of running a business and the lack of work/life balance puts such an enormous amount of pressure on GPs, turning them off the idea of solo practice."

Mrs Singh the clinic had a new doctor, but there had not been an increase in doctors in the region.

"As much as we as a clinic have expanded, unfortunately the region has not seen an increase - we have merely benefited from a reshuffle of existing GPs," she said.

Mrs Singh's comments come after it was revealed one Warrnambool medical practice was offering a $25,000 sign-on fee for doctors.

Member for South West Coast Roma Britnell said it was the first time she had heard of it happening in Warrnambool but wasn't surprised.

"We are desperate for doctors. Those businesses are obviously trying to do whatever it takes to get a doctor," Ms Britnell said.

"It's very symbolic of the fact that businesses are having to do whatever they can."

Ms Britnell said the lack of doctors was a massive problem.

Deakin University's Warrnambool campus revealed in March this year it would offer a full medical degree.

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