Hepatitis C caseload and models of care for rural GPs working in northern New South Wales

General practitioners have an important future role in the detection and management of hepatitis C in Australia. One percent of the Australian population is infected with hepatitis C, of which most are consequent on previous injecting drug use. A transition from specialist to primary care requires improved knowledge for GPs. Shared care trials in urban areas of Australia demonstrate small benefits to socially disadvantaged patients with hepatitis C. However, these have not evaluated the more complex issues in rural areas arising from large distances, increased difficulty with confidentiality, and shortages of health professionals. Little information is available about hepatitis C in rural general practice. Rural GPs have good knowledge about transmission and natural history, but a reluctance to refer to tertiary care, although in some settings they do share antiviral therapy with urban specialists. We investigated this further.