THE doctor shortage in Ballarat is at crisis point, with only two walk-in medical practices accepting new patients.At least 10 doctors are needed to alleviate the problem, but the shortage is predicted to worsen.Ballarat & District Division of General Practice chief executive officer Andrew McPherson said that anecdotally there had been an increase in the number of Ballarat patients unable to find a doctor.For almost 18 months, the BDDGP has managed a GP hotline, updating information on practices accepting new patients. Currently, there are only two, says Mr McPherson.“I can’t disagree that this situation will get worse,” he said yesterday. “What people have to understand is that Ballarat is the fastest-growing regional centre in Victoria. If the number of doctors in the region does not increase to meet the population growth, the situation will get worse.“However, this is not a new problem and has been gradually worsening for the last 10 years.”He said initiatives to encourage medical students to stay longer in Ballarat were in place, but would take some years to come to fruition.To make the situation worse, four doctors are due to leave the Eureka Medical and Dental Centre in coming months.A spokeswoman for Primary Health Care, which operates the Ballarat centre, said there were currently 18 doctors at Eureka Medical and Dental, but this would be reduced to 14 when the four GPs leave.“At the beginning of the year, the centre had 14 doctors. But in anticipation of four leaving, another four GPs were hired. This number will go back to 14 once they leave,” the spokeswoman said.A new medical practice, believed to be earmarked for the Sebastopol/Delacombe area, is expected to open later this year. It is believed the practice would be run by a medical company from outside Ballarat that would bring in its own GPs.The looming shortage of doctors has prompted the state level of Australian medical Association to call on the Baillieu government and Ballarat hospitals to act.AMA Victoria board member Dr Lorraine Baker said yesterday that insufficient doctors were being attracted to Ballarat to replace GPs who were either retiring or leaving the district.Dr Baker said strategies needed to be devised in Ballarat to attract new doctors. “The state government should take notice of this worrying trend and implement corrective strategies.”Her comments follow a recent meeting between AMA Victoria and doctors from Ballarat and surrounding areas, where the looming doctor shortage and other issues were raised by GPs.