General News
25 August, 2023
GP lifeline for small community
THE Cardwell community has been thrown a lifeline with a doctor to be appointed to practice at the town’s only full-time medical centre.
The town was facing turmoil on September 1 when the clinic was to close permanently.
Dire doctor shortages and stressed staff had led Cardwell Family Practice owners Carmen Edmondson and Julie McKay to shut the clinic on Friday next week.
But the Queensland Government announced this week that management had been transferred to the Townsville Hospital and Health Service and that Rural Health Management Service had been appointed to operate the practice.
Ms McKay said “this is a real team effort, and the Rural Health Management Service to take the practice management side on at such short notice is just a marvellous result,” she said. “We weren’t fighting for my job or Carmen’s job, we were fighting for our patients and we couldn’t have asked for anything better than this sustainable plan moving forward.”
Federal Member for Kennedy Bob Katter said he was impressed by the courage and fortitude shown by residents, Queensland KAP Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto, Mayor Mark Nolan and the Cassowary Coast Regional Council.
A beacon of hope is shining in the town of Tully with a new doctor committed to staying in the community.
The Tully Medical Centre has a new doctor. Resident medical officer Dr Baylie Fletcher now calls Tully home, and she intends to stay.
She said she simply loved working and living in the small rural community.
Dr Fletcher was able to move to north Queensland and join the Tully Medical Centre with help from a support package involving Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN) in partnership with Health Workforce Queensland. The rural workforce enhancement program provides incentive packages and other incentives to attract GPs and health professionals to rural and remote areas to help address health professional shortages.
“Working in this position has been incredible and Tully is a beautiful little town with plenty to do and outstanding sceneries,” she said.
“The incentives associated with the role were an added bonus.
“I think the program is a great idea, particularly in times like now when there are workforce shortages and spots to be filled. I am so grateful for the opportunities that have come from this program and to everyone for their support and making this happen.”
Embracing the community and work has already fostered a deep sense of connection and fulfillment for Dr Fletcher.
“The best aspects of my work include the variety, the constant learning, and the comradery that comes with this environment,” she said. “My aim is to now get on to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) program and ideally continue at Tully Medical Centre. I intend to stay in Tully for as long as I can, until I am required to move as part of training.”
For the past three years, NQPHN, in partnership with Health Workforce Queensland, has funded the Rural Workforce Enhancement Program, which provides incentive packages and other incentives to attract GPs and health professionals to rural and remote areas to help address health professional shortages.
Support is available for domestic relocation travel, rental assistance, continuing professional development registration costs, travel, and accommodation, and professional memberships, among other things, for 12 months. This year, NQPHN extended the program from allied health professionals to all primary care professionals in the NQPHN catchment area, including GPs, with further incentives to attract GPs to the areas with the most critical needs, such as Tully.
Thirteen health professionals – including four general practitioners (GPs) and nine allied health professionals – are helping to ease the effects of workforce shortages in North Queensland after receiving an incentive package funded by NQPHN.
NQPHN chief executive Robin Whyte said NQPHN was working to help address the shortage of GPs and allied health professionals in North Queensland’s rural and remote communities.
“Workforce is a national conversation, but across our NQPHN catchment area we are working on a variety of local solutions to attract health care professionals,” she said.
