Recent Guardian coverage shows both what’s possible in regional healthcare — and what’s still missing.

Swan Hill’s Virtual Care program is a clear example of innovation working well as it helps patients stay healthier at home, reduces pressure on hospitals and reduces the need to travel long distances for care.  This is exactly the kind of smart, locally delivered solution regional communities need – and are renowned for developing in the face of adversity.

Virtual Care also highlights a broader truth: regional healthcare still faces deep, systemic gaps.

Local leaders warn of ongoing workforce shortages, reduced access to primary and specialist care, gaps in aged care, and poorer health outcomes compared to city areas.  I have been calling out these concerns ever since my maiden speech — and sadly they remain unresolved.

The Nationals have been consistent: you cannot fix regional healthcare without fixing the workforce.

That means practical action — not one-size-fits-all policy from Canberra.

The Nationals are focused on:

• Rebuilding the regional workforce pipeline, including incentives for doctors, nurses and allied health professionals to train and stay in the regions

• Restoring proper workforce distribution settings, so regional communities don’t lose doctors to metropolitan areas

• Supporting nurses and allied health to work to full scope, especially where doctors are scarce

• Backing community-based aged care, so older Australians can stay in their homes with timely, face-to-face support

Innovations like Virtual Care should be expanded — but must support, not replace, local services. Technology cannot substitute for a local doctor, nurse or aged care provider.

Mallee also needs action on aged care. I have been raising in Parliament how over 200,000 Australians are waiting over 12 months for support, and decisions are increasingly being made by automated systems instead of local clinicians.  For regional communities, Labor’s neglect compounds an already difficult situation.

Regional Australians deserve healthcare that matches their needs — not policies designed for capital cities.

Recent editions of the Guardian have shown both the opportunity and the urgency.

As Shadow Minister for Regional Health, I - and The Nationals – am pushing for the healthcare you, as taxpayers and Australian citizens, deserve.

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