2022 Minimum Data Set Summary Report

​The 2022 Minimum Data Set Summary Report is a snapshot of the general practitioner workforce landscape in Queensland as of 30 November 2022.

Health Workforce Queensland maintains an up-to-date database of medical practitioners working in a general practice context in remote, rural, and regional Queensland (private practices, small hospitals, Royal Flying Doctor Service [RFDS] and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services [ACCHS]) informed by numerous sources, including an annual survey of general practices and general practitioners (GPs).

Information generated by the minimum data set (MDS) informs policy development relevant to the remote, rural, and regional health workforce, and service delivery at local, state and national levels. The MDS allows for effective measurement of current workforce distributions and helps facilitate planning for actual or potential areas of workforce shortage.

Synopsis of Results

As of 30 November 2022, there were 2,727 medical practitioners working in RA 5-2 Queensland. The Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQ PHN) region had the largest remote, rural, and regional medical workforce in the state.

The average age of the workforce was 49.94 years and 46.1 percent of the workforce were female practitioners, although, in Inner Regional communities (RA2), the representation of female practitioners was lower at 43.9 percent. A noteworthy change since last year was the increased proportion of female practitioners in Very Remote communities (RA5), which increased from 44.9 percent to 48.5 percent as a result of a minor net departure of male practitioners and a substantial net increase of female practitioners.

Approximately 52.2 percent of the medical workforce were trained in Australia and 4.3 percent reported working as solo practitioners. This figure increased to 8.98 percent when those who reported being solo practitioners working in a co-located practice with at least one other GP were included.

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READ THE MDS IN FULL