Six new doctors first to sign up to initiative, Grylls
Author: Brendon Grylls
Published on: 07-December-2011
Six towns in a large area of southern Western Australia will benefit from having greater access to a doctor thanks to the $565million Southern Inland Health Initiative, which is ushering in a new era in country health.
Health Minister Kim Hames announced today that the doctors, who were all new to rural Western Australia, were in Merredin, Lake Grace, Corrigin, Quairading, Kalbarri and Esperance. They have agreed to work under the Southern Inland network model to provide emergency and primary care services to people in those towns.
Regional Development Minister Brendon Grylls said the Southern Inland Health Initiative was funded under the State Government’s Royalties for Regions program, and included a $240million investment in the regional health workforce as well as $325million for capital works over the next five years.
“This new model will result in more doctors working in rural communities, leading a better work/life balance with greater support and less time spent on call,” Mr Grylls said.
“Since a campaign to recruit doctors had began, many have shown interest in working in the Southern Inland area.”
Dr Hames said an additional 17 applications from doctors were being assessed and 10 of these had been attracted from the joint international recruitment drive in the United Kingdom.
“As a result of our taking part in the British Medical Journal Expo, 45 doctors had shown interest in working as part of the Southern Inland Health Initiative and 22 of these had relevant GP qualifications,” Dr Hames said.
A key focus of the first year of the project is to address the lack of private GPs across the Southern Inland region.
