Specialist shortage

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Specialist shortage

SOUTH Gippsland and Bass Coast have a shortage of medical specialists, including cardiologists and psychiatrists, according to new Districts of Workforce Shortages (DWS) maps released by the Federal Government.
The maps show which regions in Australia are classed as DWSs, where overseas trained doctors and bonded doctors must work, and which areas need more medical specialists.
According to the maps, South Gippsland and Bass Coast are not Districts of Workforce Shortage but do have a shortage of specialists in fields such as anaesthesiology, cardiology, diagnostic radiology, general surgery and psychiatry.
Chief executive officer of Bass Coast Health (BCH) Veronica Jamison agreed the area needed more medical specialists.
“To attract medical specialists is always a challenge in rural and remote areas,” she said.
“We actively recruit medical specialists wherever possible.
“We’ve recently recruited a second orthopaedic surgeon and we’ve created some operating theatre space for her, so she will build on the orthopaedic work already done by our one and only orthopaedic surgeon.”
She said staff at BCH were well connected and many specialists hear of employment opportunities by word of mouth.
“Recently we’ve had an enquiry from a new ophthalmologist,” she said.
However, she agreed the community would benefit from quick access to local specialists.
“I would like to see another paediatrician,” Ms Jamison said.
“In terms of general surgery, I certainly would like to see us have 24/7 general surgical coverage.
“We would always welcome more general surgeons to come here to build on the general surgeons we already have.
“It would negate the need to transfer people out of here and that’s all to do with growing to become a true subregional health service.”
Mark Johnson, CEO of Gippsland Southern Health Service, said the Leongatha Hospital was not seeking additional specialists.
“At this point in time we don’t have the capacity to increase services,” he said.
“We are meeting our targets and would require additional funding to add additional services.
“We don’t currently have any gaps that need to be filled.”
Ms Jamison said the shortage of specialists was partly caused by the region’s population figures.
“I would think it is the critical mass; the bigger population you have, the more services that are required,” she said.
“With our population, say in Bass Coast, we don’t have critical mass to have a neurosurgeon, for example.
“Surgeons who are specialists want to be doing a lot of work but as our population grows, that will change.”
Ms Jamison believed one way to start improving the situation lay in the coordination of referrals between general practitioners (GPs) and specialists.
“If we had greater coordination in the region around referrals to specialists, I think that would be a really good starting point, so that people weren’t referred to Melbourne,” she said.
However, she conceded there was a “chicken and egg” question over whether the referrals or the specialists would come first.

By Laura Gibb

Medical specialist shortage: from left, Bass MP Brian Paynter, CEO of Bass Coast Regional Health Veronica Jamisen and, far right, hospital board chair Jeff Bennett.

Medical specialist shortage: from left, Bass MP Brian Paynter, CEO of Bass Coast Regional Health Veronica Jamisen and, far right, hospital board chair Jeff Bennett.

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Posted by on Feb 20 2015. Filed under Featured, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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