a day ago
Fears Clermont's sole GP will leave town over new hospital shifts
When doctor Tim Lane, his partner and young son moved to Clermont in central Queensland 18 months ago, it ended six years of community uncertainty.
After years of lobbying, advertising and a few false starts, the town of 3,000 finally had a permanent doctor at the hospital and a promise to open a second GP clinic in town.
However, rostering changes implemented by Mackay Hospital and Health Service (MHHS) have locals worried there will be fewer available GP appointments.
Dr Lane is now required to work 7am–9am and 4pm–7pm in the hospital.
Sam Faint, chair of community advocacy group ClermontCONNECT, said this would mean 10–15 fewer GP appointments a day.
She said initially an integrated roster system allowed Dr Lane flexibility to run the GP practice "while prioritising work inside the hospital".
"It's unlikely that the surgery will be able to continue to be viable if that model doesn't revert back to what it was."
Dr Lane declined to comment but, in a statement, his practice manager Deb Shore said changes meant the GP clinic would reduce opening hours.
"[It will] limit the flexibility we've had to support the hospital emergency department and collaborate with the health service when needed," the statement read.
In a statement, MHHS said there had been no change to the medical model that enabled doctors to work in the hospital and in general practice.
It said under this employment arrangement, there were required hours of attendance at Clermont's Multi-Purpose Health Service (MPHS).
The health service said it could not comment on opening hours of a privately owned general practice.
A second permanent doctor has started work at the MPHS, a move MHHS said would increase medical coverage.
The new doctor will work five days a fortnight at the hospital and the other five at the GP surgery.
The second doctor is completing her general practitioner qualifications and will be required to work under Dr Lane's supervision for six months.
A locum doctor is also employed to cover when both permanent doctors are rostered off.
Recruiting doctors to work in the Isaac region is a long-standing issue, and community advocates such as Ms Faint worry what might happen if Dr Lane leaves.
For a permanent population of 22,500 people and a large itinerant workforce of around 13,000, the region is serviced by six GPs in Moranbah, as well as one each in the smaller towns of Dysart and Middlemount.
An outreach clinic services Nebo to the east.
In January, doctor Sarah McLay closed her Clermont Country Practice, the town's only other clinic, with some patients transitioning to telehealth appointments from Emerald, more than 100 kilometres away.
That same month, the Moranbah Sonic Health Plus practice closed after 10 years, with no reason given.
Clermont, a three-hour drive from Mackay and four hours from Rockhampton, has lived with periods of uncertainty in health care before.
The community has previously fought to attract permanent doctors and reduce its reliance on expensive locums.
Steve Salleras worked as a GP in Clermont from 1998 to 2001 and said health outcomes had been consistently worse for people in rural and remote areas.
In a statement, Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls said primary care was not the state government's responsibility.
"The Commonwealth government has vacated the field in Clermont and dozens of other rural and remote communities of Queensland, leaving it up to Queensland Health to step in a fill the gap," Mr Nichols said.
In a statement, federal MP for Capricornia Michelle Landry said the appeal of rural health roles had declined over the past few years.
She described the absence of a permanent GP in any small community as "dangerous".
A spokesperson for the federal health department said under the Workforce Incentive Program a GP in Clermont could receive up to $60,000 annually, while a GP practice could receive up to $215,280 a year.
Dr Salleras said small Queensland communities like Theodore and Cloncurry had successfully built sustainable health models to support both emergency and primary care, but it relied on making a doctor's time in a rural area as smooth as possible.
"[If there are] high levels of trust, that makes it a positive place to attract people and means that there's potential even for a succession plan," he said.
