South African family physician Herman Kruger is the doctor Inverell has been waiting for, but he didn’t come cheap.
For more than four years, Inverell Shire Council negotiated with Dr Kruger’s recruiting agent, as he considered roles from around the country.
Eventually, the council offered Dr Kruger a $30,000 financial incentive to work in the regional New South Wales town, with Hunter New England Health providing another $30,000.
Dr Kruger said he would not have been able to move from South Africa without the support from the council.
“They paid all my rent, more than the first six months, and they paid my vehicle finance as well,” he said
“They also introduced me to the hospital staff and management, they’ve made it possible for things like licensing, obtaining certificates, streamlining the process to get original certification over here.”
Dr Kruger said he was surprised to hear about doctors leaving regional areas in Australia.
“It quite a shocker because it is such a lovely lifestyle over here,” he said.
“I think it would appeal to a lot of people.”
Urgent action needed
The doctor shortage reached a dire point in Inverall when three GPs retired last year.
Their retirements left only six doctors to service a shire with a population of almost 18,000 people.
Councillor Wendy Wilks said the council had to take immediate action to recruit three new doctors.
“We were [sending patients] to Coffs Harbour, Armidale, Tamworth, and even plaguing Warialda when we could. There was just nothing else,” she said.
“Council unanimously elected to provide $30,000 for accommodation and a vehicle, for up to two doctors per financial year.”
Cr Wilks said Inverell still needed another three doctors to adequately address pressures on its health sector.
“Our doctors that we do have are under stress and they are getting older,” she said.
“We want to see the people of Inverell ring up to get into a doctor, and not have appointments six weeks to two months away, or have to travel three hours to a doctor.”
Isolation drives up cost
In the NSW Riverina, the situation is even more extreme.
For the past five years, Carrathool Shire Council has been paying up to $300,000 a year to keep a doctor in Hillston.
General manager Rick Warren said over the past six months they had negotiated that down to around $170,000.
“We do not have a doctor who is in town 24/7; he is two weeks on, one off,” he said.
“The Royal Flying Doctor Service has provided a couple of days a week with one of their relief doctors during that period.
“It can leave the community not covered with medical services, apart from the hospital.”
While Mr Warren would like to see another doctor in Hillston, he is aware of the additional costs that would come with recruiting one.
“The cost is certainly what is causing some real dramas for us at the moment,” he said.
“[But] it’s certainly better for our community to have full 24/7 coverage.”
Mr Warren said it should not be the council’s responsibility to provide medical services to the community.
“That’s the role of state and federal governments, and whatever arrangements they have,” he said.
“It certainly isn’t ours.”
Multi-level focus needed
The NSW parliamentary secretary for regional health, Michael Holland, said the days of primary healthcare being only a Commonwealth concern were gone.
“We can’t solve this on one tier of government,” Dr Holland said.
The state government announced the second round of the Rural Generalist Single Employer Pathway in July, which aims to train doctors and keep them working in regional areas.
Last year the program employed 21 rural generalist trainees to work across hospitals and general practices in seven NSW regional local health districts.
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