“New patients are being turned away from every practice and forced to go to hospital emergency for assistance,” Ms Duncan said.

“If they are seen at emergency, they still cannot go to a GP for a follow-up consultation.”

Enquiries made by the Esperance Express have shown that only one of Esperance’s four doctors’ surgeries is taking new patients and appointments for some doctors were booked out for at least three weeks.

According to Ms Duncan, this situation is simply not satisfactory.

“Esperance had 13 GPs, but now has only 11 who provide the equivalent of nine full-time doctors.

“In the next five years, three of these doctors are likely to retire or dramatically reduce their workload.

“With Esperance’s population growing at a rapid rate, it is essential that families new to Esperance can access medical advice in a timely manner.”

Ms Duncan believes that a potential solution to the doctor shortage problem might be found in the establishment of an amalgamated medical centre.

“What we need in Esperance, and every regional town suffering the same problem, are medical centres where GPs can come together for work, while the administration and allied services are managed by trained professionals.”

Ms Duncan said that this delivery model has been successful in other country towns, such as Katanning, and that Commonwealth funding was available to assist in the amalgamation of practices.

Her concerns come as leader of the Nationals Brendon Grylls calls for answers from Health Minister Jim McGinty about the state of the WA country health system.

Following criticisms of the country health system by its former chief executive Christine O’Farrell, including claims that elements of the system were “blatantly unsafe” and the government’s attitude was “metro-centric,” Mr Grylls moved for a debate on the matter.

“I asked the Minister to explain why Ms O’Farrell, who has been involved in the country health system for 20 years, would publicly warn about dangerous gaps in primary medical care and emergency services,” he said.

According to Mr Grylls, Minister McGinty used Labor’s numbers in parliament to avoid debate on the issue, choosing instead to “run away from the issue.”

“The vote in the Legislative Assembly was 27 to 25 against debating the motion.

“It’s not just about bricks and mortar – it’s about staffing levels, proper emergency services, updated equipment and adequate operational budgets,” Mr Grylls said.