In a result released by the health lobby after a survey it is shown that some people in rural areas have a six-month wait to see a doctor.

The survey was conducted online by a voluntary motion involving 1000 people. It was organized by National Rural Health Alliance and the Rural Doctors Association.

The survey also revealed that 18 percent of respondents wait for more than three weeks to get an appointment whereas three-quarters had to travel away from their local area in the past year to receive non-emergency medical treatment.

The National Rural Health Alliance, Gordon Gregory, says that this information proves a real shortage of medical professionals in regional areas.

He added, “The situation with specialists and dentists is even worse than for doctors, so we've got a really serious problem. And that's why, I guess, it's disappointing that neither side of politics has focused on these challenges yet in the election campaign.”

The Rural Doctor’s Association of Queensland president Dan Halliday says the system is under-funded by at least $1 billion a year.