BALLARAT'S doctor shortage is worse than ever, says a general practitioner.
The crisis has prompted Carn Brae Clinic's Dr Frank Marton to renew calls for a GP register, showing which doctors are taking new patients.
Dr Marton said it was extremely distressing to see people wandering from practice to practice, begging for help.
Since re-opening after Christmas, Carn Brae has turned away between three and four patients each day.
"We've been inundated," Dr Marton said.
"I had a lady in her mid-60s come in the other day desperate to see someone, but we couldn't take her on. She had been all around town trying to find someone.
"I got pretty upset about it, I couldn't sleep."
According to the most recent census data, Ballarat's population grew by 5402 residents in five years.
It is understood most of the region's general practices have stopped taking new patients, putting pressure on hospital emergency departments.
Dr Marton believed recent GP retirements had increased the strain on a workforce which was "just coping".
"Things are pretty crook in Ballarat," he said.
According to the Ballarat and District Division of General Practice website, there are 11 GP and practice vacancies in the region.
Dr Marton said a GP register would ease the stress on patients searching for a doctor.
"It's pretty terrible that people are wandering from practice to practice, begging someone to take them on," he said.
"Some people really don't want to wait three to four hours at the bulk-billing clinics, which I sort of understand.
"If you're old, frail or in a wheelchair; if you've got young kids, you don't really want to be sitting around for hours and hours."
Dr Marton also said a Howard Government decision, made before the federal election, had hindered Ballarat's chances of getting more doctors.
The Commonwealth removed Ballarat's District of Workforce Shortage classification, assigned to areas where residents' healthcare needs cannot be met.
BDDG chief executive officer Andrew McPherson hoped the new Rudd Government would reverse the decision.
"As far as the patients of Ballarat are concerned, there is still a GP shortage and we would appreciate the status being reviewed immediately," he said.
Ballarat MHR Catherine King said she would speak with Health Minister Nicola Roxon about re-instating the classification.
"Frankly, I can't understand why that decision was made given Ballarat's shortages. It does seem to be completely contrary to the experience of Ballarat people on the ground," she said.
Mr McPherson did not support the idea of a register of GPs because it would be "inefficient and inaccurate".
"It could only be voluntary because we don't have any authority to insist practices register with a GP register," he said.
"It would also need to be updated very frequently because GPs that were able to take new patients would be very quickly full again, so it would be out of date and people would be back to making calls
again."