Greater Hume Shire residents have concerns about the aging of doctors in local towns and the need for a succession plan.
As Member for Albury Greg Aplin toured the electorate last week, he noted people were very concerned over this issue. He pointed out there was a need to attract doctors who are prepared to permanently relocate to country towns rather than pay locums who cost many thousands of dollars.
Chairman of the Holbrook Local Health Service Advisory Committee Judy Wettenhall said succession planning for GP services was definitely on the agenda.
“We need to explore the opportunities and incentive packages that will assist in attracting doctors to the area,” she said.
Greater Hume Shire General Manager Steven Pinnuck said the ongoing position of GP services is central to the sustainability of our communities and also to retain the acute and accident services at our local hospital. “Closure of the accident and emergency department is not in the best interests of any community,” he stressed.
The Henty community faced the problem of closure for several months when they were finding a replacement for the late Dr Donaldson.
Within the next month Council will talk to GPs to develop succession planning strategies to create a continuity of GP services throughout the shire.
It is imperative to avoid being in the same situation as Howlong, Tumbarumba, and Tallangatta communities which are without doctors.
The Australian Government’s new incentives program has been harshly criticised by Chairman of The Rural Doctors Association Australia Dr Paul Maras of Gundagai.
He believes, “It is unrealistic and only likely to attract doctors to the larger regional centres and coastal resorts on the eastern seaboard.”
Dr Maras said the government needs to urgently review the Remote Areas scheme and get real with the offer of incentives to pay doctors prepared to go to rural areas, for their skills and expertise.
“An emergency specialist in a metropolitan area will earn between $200,000 and $350,000 for a 40 hour week. To equate with this, a country doctor would have to have 20,000 consultations in a year when the reality is, a legitimate number is half that,” he said.
The new system has already affected Dr Maras who has lost a highly qualified doctor. She could not study under the Remote Vocational Training Scheme because Gundagai is an RA2 town and not deemed isolated enough so moved to Gunnedah which has four times the population but is classified RA3.
Dr Mara said the classification zones for the Remoteness Areas (RA) system has no real bearing on the actual isolation and level of health services available to the area.
The outer regional town of Lockhart is classified RA3 and the inner regional towns and cities of Holbrook, Henty, Culcairn and Albury are all classified RA2.
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