The Tasmanian Liberal Government is bolstering rural and regional health services with the recruitment and training of more specialist rural doctors to ensure Tasmanians can get the right care, in the right place at the right time.
Building on our strong record of improving access to health care in regional and rural areas, we are investing $3.3 million to recruit more junior doctors specialising in rural and remote medicine as part of a North-West-based scheme to create a crucial workforce pipeline.
There are seven junior doctors already on the rural generalist pathway learning the skills to work across rural and regional Tasmania, with three of these recruited as a result of the Government’s funding commitment.
This funding will also allow us to double the number of junior doctors on the pathway in next year’s intake.
A senior rural doctor is also being recruited to lead rural generalist training and development at the Mersey Community Hospital hub.
Pleasingly, many doctors who have already been through the pathway have stayed in the North-West working in the community as GPs or emergency doctors.
The program’s new recruits are able to work in rural general practice across the State through a Commonwealth training fund for rural junior doctors offering placements for 20 interns and 20 resident medical officers.
The Tasmanian Government is also investing $1 million for the training hub which is part of our long-term plan to expand the regional health workforce across Tasmania and improve access to medical services in rural and regional areas.
The training hub – called the Rural Medical Workforce Centre – will support the training of the new doctors and retention of the medical workforce in the North-West.
The modern, fit-for-purpose training hub is set to open later this year, with discussions underway between the Tasmanian Health Service and the University of Tasmania to enhance existing facilities and offer additional specialty accreditations.
The new hub will offer attractive posts for trainee rural doctors by giving them the opportunity to develop skills across a range of specialties including emergency, rural general practice, anaesthetics, paediatrics, and obstetrics and gynaecology.
The hub will also offer additional skills training for registrars training in rural medicine including internal medicine and mental health services.
These schemes are critical because we know doctors who have a positive training experience in rural locations are more likely to live and work in rural communities in the future.
As a Government that has delivered more funding, more staff, and more health services, we will continue to make it easier for Tasmanians to access medical care in the right place at the right time.