Vulnerable Australians missing out on healthcare as insufficient Medicare rebate drives GP shortage

‘Our clients are complex. In a 15-minute appointment you are not going to get very far,’ said Cohealth nurse Vaan Phongsavan, who now carries out the program. Photograph: RayArt Graphics/Alamy

Vulnerable Australians are missing out on adequate healthcare because the Medicare rebate is failing to keep up with the costs of providing services, leading to a critical GP shortage, community health organisations say.

Not-for-profit community health organisation Cohealth has not been able to operate its street doctor service in Melbourne’s CBD – which provides a GP to people sleeping rough – for more than nine months, because it cannot find a doctor to work there.