Narrogin doctors air staff shortage concerns during visit from Royal Australian College of GPs

Maternity ward staff shortages and trainee doctor opportunities were among the topics discussed by Narrogin medical staff when Royal Australian College of GPs representatives visited town this month. RACGP rural chairman Dr Michael Clements and his WA representatives visited a handful of regional towns in the South West which they identified as having “strong” workforce shortages to hear people’s concerns and offer support. The team visited Narrogin from September 12-13. RACGP represents GPs on a national scale and advocates on their behalf. “One of the best ways that we get that feedback about what’s happening on the ground is by doing tours of the regions,” Dr Clements said. “I toured with the WA chair Dr Ramya Raman and we picked a few towns where we knew there were strong workforce shortages but with really good GPs who were doing their best to offer sustainable services and recruit the next doctors. “We wanted to get out there to give them our support but also hear their stories so that we can share their stories, vision and concerns, not just here in Perth but also in Canberra.” The representatives met with local GPs, medical staff and students from the hospital and private practices. They sat in on a meeting at the Narrogin hospital, where Dr Clements said they had the chance to learn about local challenges and concerns. “They were talking about managing rosters, shortages of doctors and shortages of nurses,” Dr Clements said. “They were talking about retrieval...trying to get sick people out of town using the Royal Flying Doctor Service and some of the challenges of that. “(They were) also talking about recruitment and getting the next generation of doctors in and what some of the opportunities and challenges are in Narrogin for some of those future doctors.” Dr Clements said one of the biggest issues raised was the limited number of qualified medical staff to provide birthing services. “It really did strike me that Narrogin is one of the last areas that are birthing in the region,” he said. “But it’s really stretched. “They’ve got a very small number of qualified doctors and nurses to provide that service. “They have a wonderful maternity ward, they’ve got a water birth facility, which is one of the first I’ve seen rurally in a long time. “They’ve got a wonderful facility, but if they can’t keep recruiting and bringing in new doctors to provide that service, then Narrogin will close as well, and people will have to go to Perth or Bunbury to give birth.” WA Country Health Service Wheatbelt acting regional director Russell Colyer-Cockburn said the Narrogin hospital had faced “periods of workforce pressure” in the past two years like other hospitals across the State. He said the hospital had recently recruited a new midwife. “WACHS is deepening its investment in recruitment across regional WA, with a strong focus on attracting and retaining staff to live in the Wheatbelt,” Mr Colyer-Cockburn said. “Narrogin has recently welcomed a new midwife to the team and additional support for regional birth close to home is now available through the Midwifery and Obstetrics Emergency Telehealth Service. “WACHS remains committed to working with partner agencies to deliver programs designed to attract, recruit and support health professionals in regional WA.” Dr Clements said the long-term solution to staff shortages involved training, recruiting and housing young doctors to work in the region. He said the short-term solution was recruiting trained overseas doctors. “We do need to streamline the approval process for overseas-trained doctors to come into Narrogin,” Dr Clements said. “At the moment, it takes about 18 months from when an overseas-trained doctor decides they want to move to Narrogin to when they actually arrive to work. “We do need to see that sped up, and we are advocating with the Federal Government to make those processes quicker so that Narrogin can get their doctors sooner.” Rural Clinical School of WA students from the State’s universities arrive in Narrogin each year to complete a year of training in the regional hospital. Dr Clements said Narrogin had the potential to be a “premier training destination”. “It’s such a rich learning environment with the visiting surgical services, the medical physician services, and the fact that they can do birthing,” he said. “It’s such a wonderful opportunity for Narrogin to become the centre of training for that region. “If they just get the right funding from WACHS, they can really start to draw in more doctors and more trainees and become a training destination choice. “Narrogin really is a premier training destination compared to many of the other towns I visit. “It really does have the full breadth of learning experiences that we would want for our trainees.” Mr Colyer-Cockburn said WACHS was committed to working with the RSCWA. “From 2016-2022, the number of junior doctors working at WACHS more than doubled,” he said. “I’d like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all staff at Narrogin Hospital — they continue to perform extraordinary work in difficult times.”