Letter to the Editor

Waikerie Medical Centre-what next?

Waikerie Medical Centre both notes and commiserates with the concerns raised through letters, social media posts and letters to the editor on the dwindling GP numbers. Your observations are acknowledged and yes, we are struggling with retention rates of GPs. It is however only fair that before giving in to despair and despondency we face some inalterable facts.

Since May 2019, we have lost two full time doctors and one part-time doctor. One of these doctors had accepted the invitation to become a partner within the business and was thought to have been a long term proposition . All three doctors exercised their freedom of choice to either leave for metro practice after they qualified their exams and had met the government moratorium for rural general practice or moved to another practice for personal reasons and many of our doctors have struggled with the on call requirements and seek a practice with less on call. Whatever the reason, the effect of this, conservatively estimated, is that the medical centre has lost at least forty appointments each day and two on calls per week. The loss of on calls is significant in that they have to be covered by one of the remaining GPs. This translates to the remaining GPs needing to pick up the on call doctor’s appointments reducing the overall number of “standard” appointments available through the practice. Add to that the commitment we have made to train doctors in whom we hope to instil a love for rural medical practice and you realise the pressure there is on our remaining and dedicated team of practitioners. We often have to work extra hours, undertake professional development during our leave and forego family time. This is not to complaint since we are committed to make the sacrifice, but we think it is important the community knows that we are both aware of and affected by the frustrations they have raised.

So what next? While we wish for a “clear skies” forecast, we need to keep in mind that the prediction of doctor numbers entering rural GP practice is that the numbers are falling in SA as well as nationally, with training doctors preferring other specialties and realise their personal goals for rewarding medical careers with commensurate rewards and better work/life balance. Our practice is therefore most likely to get only one registrar in 2020 in place of the two excellent registrars we have had in 2019. Please note that it is a compulsory requirement that Registrars train in a different practice so our 2 doctors do not have a real choice in the matter. As stated at the outset, our intent is not to cause despair or despondency but rather to invite you, our community, to take action individually and/or collectively where possible, to advertise and invite any medical general practitioners in your networks interested in joining a rural practice to apply to our medical practice. Positive feedback on and from our community is also helpful. On our part, we are constantly advertising our vacancies on medical networks and by word of mouth to our networks. Perhaps together we can get the right practitioners for our community. We beg your patience and understanding as we progress this process and always feedback.

Thank you

Dr Ken Wanguhu
On behalf of Waikerie Medical Centre