|
MEDIA RELEA |
Rural specialists ‘crying
out’
for better support
Country
A Sustainable Specialist
Workforce for Rural Australia—a crucial plan developed by RDAA’s Rural
Specialists Group to reverse this decline—will be presented to the Federal
Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott MP, at a meeting of the Rural
Specialists Group in
“Rural specialists play an essential role in achieving
optimum health outcomes for those living in rural and remote communities, and measures
must be introduced urgently to keep more of them in the bush” RDAA President,
Dr Ross Maxwell, and Chair of RDAA’s Rural Specialists Group, Professor Rick
McLean, said.
“Rural specialists provide not
only clinical services and leadership but also upskilling and support for other
medical practitioners, rural training, research and other activities. Specialist
outreach services are an important complement to services provided by
rurally-residing specialists but they cannot and should not replace local
capacity.
“Rural specialists face
similar challenges
to their rural GP and proceduralist colleagues—personal and professional
isolation, lack of access to education opportunities and excessive workloads, all
of which provide continuing disincentives to rural practice. The rural specialist
workforce is also ageing—many of the existing rural specialists are close to retirement
and few young specialists are moving to the bush to replace them.
“Key measures needed to recruit and retain more
specialists in rural
·
improving rosters and locum arrangements, so rural
specialists are not required to be on-call for after-hours duties more than 1
in 4 days and can take much-needed recreation or education leave. Where such
rosters are impossible to achieve, doctors must be supported by triage back-up,
special locum relief and additional leave;
·
increasing the infrastructure available to support rural specialists,
including information and communication technology, medical infrastructure, and
additional healthcare staffing and administrative support;
·
strengthening the connections between regional
specialists, metropolitan hospitals and metropolitan specialists. Rural
specialists utilise these connections for continuing professional development, clinical
second opinions, access for the referral of patients needing higher level
services, and as an avenue for locum support;
·
encouraging and supporting the specialist colleges to provide enhanced
rural training;
·
ensuring that rural specialists have a formal role in clinical
governance, particularly in relation to local service planning and resource
allocation; and
·
resolving rural specialist dissatisfaction with inadequate
payments and unresolved financial anomalies between metropolitan and rural
practice. For example, recent Medicare changes that allow obstetricians in
private practice to charge a significant ‘booking-in fee’ do not benefit their
rural colleagues who practise overwhelmingly in the public sector.
Additionally, there is very poor remuneration available for rural doctors
(whether GPs, proceduralists or specialists) who make a significant commitment
to provide after-hours care in the bush, and a rural after-hours loading
through Medicare should be provided in this regard.
“It is also essential to
revive training of the ‘generalist specialist’. Sub-specialisation has many
benefits but the emphasis on it in metropolitan teaching hospitals means that
the workforce produced does not cope optimally with working in rural
environments where generalism is usually required.”
The position paper, A
RDAA President,
Dr Ross Maxwell and Chair of RDAA’s Rural
Professor Rick McLean, are available for interview.
Media are
welcome to attend the presentation of the position paper to the Minister.
For further
details, contact Patrick Daley, RDAA Media Advisor,
on tel: (02) 6273 9303 bh or 0408 004 890.