more money into the same old , same old — while being told by the same yes people that this is the right way forward . |
No to partialists
Rural generalists know this space ,
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and we should own this space .
Instead of consulting partialists and funding competing services to give their own biased opinions on how this space should be filled , skilled rural generalists should be used . How could it work ? Simple : we recruit , we train , we take the intake and work with the various colleges .
Instead of seeing burnt out rural generalists or a GP in training in the middle of nowhere hanging on by their fingernails and putting off the students who are witnessing the chaotic nature of their job , we could have a hub where we could all rotate from , offer support from and consult from .
This hub would be a multifaceted space with consulting rooms ,
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training rooms and telehealth rooms where we could provide the workforce that wants to go to the more rural and isolated towns .
Instead of having one doctor slugging it out and quitting , we would take it in turns .
We could have medical students and interns , and revolutionise this space .
We could develop a ‘ fly-in , flyout ’/‘ drive-in , drive-out ’ model ourselves , which would not only mean that the community sees the same doctor ( s ), but the follow-up — even when back in Perth — would be done by the same doctor , who could liaise with their counterpart if there is anything more to do or change .
This is especially poignant given the huge cost to shires just to maintain GP services : $ 550,000- $ 600,000 — in some cases , $ 1 million a year . Mines do it ; why can ’ t we ?
• No more jobs in the middle of nowhere
• No more social isolation
• No more dragging the family
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out to nowhere and having a depressed significant other
• No more being ‘ it ’ for everything
• No more of the burnout
• No more bad news cycle
• No more headlines about patients waiting 12 weeks for a GP consult
• No more ‘ living rural means
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access to transient or no healthcare ’
• And we eliminate the stigma .
We do have a real solution that will be an actual attempt to solve the issues we face .
Importantly , it is one that will not rely on a billion-dollar statebased behemoth that wants to
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cut rural health off and focus on metrocentric failures by suggesting that telehealth is the answer to everything beyond the limits of the city .
This article is an edited version of Dr Livingston ’ s submission to the WA and federal health ministers .
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