The Rural Doctors Association of Victoria has welcomed news the Federal Government has dumped its plans for a $5 GP co-payment. Health Minister Susan Ley yesterday announced that the scheme had been shelved because it did not have broad support from the public and the Parliament.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott declared yesterday the co-payment was "dead, buried and cremated". The association's Dr Sue Harrison said the co-payment could have stopped some people from seeing the doctor. "Many rural patients already pay some co-payments when they see a GP but I guess for those who are the most vulnerable, we'd be concerned that would perhaps put them at risk of not accessing services when they most need them," she said.

Dr Harrison is calling on the Government to make prevention a priority as it seeks to reform the health system. "We know that people in rural sectors suffer worse health outcomes, so looking at prevention to prevent those worse health outcomes and also looking to provide services that help people maintain good health wherever they live in Australia," she said.

A central Victorian doctor who lobbied against the GP co-payment plan has expressed relief that the policy has been dropped. Louisa Hope was among a group of Castlemaine GPs to speak out against it. She said the policy was unpopular with patients.

"I think initially when it came out there was a drop in numbers and I think people were concerned about coming to the doctors," she said. "It's surprising, a lack of understanding and a lot of patients worried they're going to be charged extra for seeing us and other patients have expressed support for the co-payment but probably most people have expressed concern."