Rural healthcare for LGBTQIA+ people

By Djembe Archibald

Jul 3, 2023

Medical ally: Dr Raymond Lewandowski says “we must promote and encourage excellent, accessible gender-affirming care”.

“Rural LGBTQIA+ patients shouldn’t have to travel to the city to access good-quality care — they should be able to access it close to where they live.”

Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content

That’s the view of Rural Doctors Association of Australia president-elect Dr Raymond Lewandowski.

The RDDA has backed the Federal Government’s 60-day dispensing measure for selected medications, saying it is good policy for rural patients.

The RDAA said LGBTQIA+ patients in rural and remote Australia were often more disadvantaged than their city peers when it came to accessing health care, and health policy should support them in accessing the care they needed locally.

“There is still much to be done to ensure that LGBTQIA+ people are not disadvantaged in accessing the care they need locally — particularly in the bush,” Dr Lewandowski said.

“Transgender and non-binary youth in particular are disproportionately burdened by poor mental health outcomes, including suicidal ideation and attempts, owing to high levels of social rejection, bullying, stigma and discrimination.

“It is essential that we don’t just assume access to quality and safe healthcare services can only be delivered in metropolitan settings — this is simply not the case.

“Rural multidisciplinary teams can provide quality targeted care for LGBTQIA+ patients, and importantly they can provide it locally and in an environment in which these patients may feel more comfortable.

“In this evolving healthcare space it is crucial that all bodies which have the potential to impact on clinicians’ scope of practice ensure their policy settings do not create barriers and limitations to access to care for these rural and remote patients.

“We must promote and encourage excellent, accessible gender-affirming care for the LGBTQIA+ community in rural and remote communities, and health policy settings should also support this.”