After a recent death of a four year old girl following an inquest at the regional Doomadgee hospital in northwest of Queensland on 23rd July 2009, a severe doctor shortage in the region has been finally realised, despite the availability of skilled pediatricians.
Queensland Health had issued a requirement since the death that doctors admitting children to remote facilities in the Mount Isa district should contact a paediatrician within four hours to discuss the case. However according to district's executive director of medical services, Greg Coffey, the number of paediatricians working in the district is too low. He revealed that although an American pediatrician had offered to spend at least six months working in the region, she had experienced “delays upon delays” in getting the doctor registered to work in Australia. Rural Doctors Association of Queensland (RDAQ) president Dan Halliday, echoed these thoughts saying bureaucratic delays in registering international medical graduates were causing “service disruptions to patient care”. He said, “There's so many layers of bureaucracy and no one is willing to make a decision… It's disrupting suitably qualified medical practitioners from providing the services required in rural and regional areas… International medical graduates make up 50 per cent of the rural medical workforce.”
RDAQ president Sheilagh Cronin agreed that the registration process is “dysfunctional.” “It's so difficult dealing with them, it's a complete nightmare trying to register anyone…Our overseas doctors are experiencing real delays in registration…Rules are being changed, and policies are being changed, seemingly on the run…The system needs to be made more efficient, it needs to be more transparent,” Dr Cronin said.
On July 1st, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency took over as the national body responsible for the registration of health professionals after state-wide organisations, including the Queensland Medical Board, were shut down.
In another similar development Gladstone hospital was increasingly non-functional and unorganized but failed to acknowledge it according to the Rural Doctors Association (RDA).
RDAQ president Dr Dan Halliday said, “There is a perception that Queensland Health isn’t an employer of choice because there has been long standing issues which has led to the degradation of services particularly in places like Gladstone and Biloela to the determent of the people in the community…That perception is held by communities and by medical staff and health staff alike. While we recognise it is a difficult perception to fight it must be addressed. Unfortunately Queensland Health continue to ignore the situation.” Currently Biloela hospital is only staffed by locum doctors.
According to Queensland Health’s deputy director of General Policy, Strategy and Resourcing Division Michael Cleary assured that, “The recruitment of staff in rural and regional areas has been a challenge both in Queensland and across Australia. It is not isolated to a particular geographical area…Queensland is the most decentralised state, however, it leads the nation in developing innovative solutions.”
Dr. Halliday said, “It was agreed by the health minister Paul Lucas that the Queensland country practice model would be further developed…We are however yet to see any development on the ground.” The Qld country practice model would cut the red tape and allow doctors to work and move around remote Queensland hospitals more freely.
A toddler got a nasal swab test but left before seeing a doctor. The bill was $445.