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RECRUITING GENERAL PRACTITIONERS TO RURAL AREAS: ONE COMMUNITY'S EXPERIENCE
Author(s) -
Mills Irene
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
australian journal of rural health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.48
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1440-1584
pISSN - 1038-5282
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1584.1997.tb00266.x
Subject(s) - shire , government (linguistics) , service (business) , community health , health board , rural community , nursing , community service , public relations , business , process (computing) , rural health , rural area , medicine , political science , marketing , sociology , public health , socioeconomics , geography , philosophy , linguistics , archaeology , computer science , operating system , pathology
The rural community of Dalwallinu found itself without a medical practitioner early in 1995. Believing recruitment of a replacement practitioner would be relatively straightforward, the Shire and the Hospital Board combined for this process. Little did we realise that there would be many factors that would impinge upon our ability to recruit a general practitioner (GP) other than the availability of a suitably qualified practitioner. Locum availability, providing a furnished house, a motor car, becoming the employer of the locum practitioner, community reactions, government regulations on recruiting doctors trained overseas, Health Department restructures and the arbitrary regulations of professions all had a significant impact, not to mention the cost to the local council to provide a community service.