RECEIVING Medicare registration is the final step for Penola’s new full-time general practitioner, who is expected to start work in November or December.
The new addition to the township will provide relief to the current two permanent part-time locum doctors, who see patients in the clinic as well as providing on-call services 24 hours a day.
Dr Mark Dutney and Penola Doctors part owner Dr Nirmal Grewal will be supported by the third full time doctor.
Dr Dutney welcomed the new addition and said rural practice provided medical practitioners with a range of opportunities and challenges not present in metropolitan areas.
“In the city if someone is in trouble they can go to the hospital, they do not usually go to their general practitioners,” he said.
“In the country, however, if someone is in trouble they go to the hospital and they see their general practitioner there.”
Dr Dutney said doctors working in regional areas must take care in extra studies and keep credentials up to date with emergency
care.
He said rural doctors needed to undertake an emergency care weekend every three years “otherwise we would not be allowed to work regionally”.
“This presents another challenge for getting doctors out here regionally because they need to be a little more qualified in the emergency space than a regular practitioner in the city would be,” he said.
Dr Dutney said rural practice provided more scope to establish strong relationships with patients and the wider community and offered patients continuity in care.
“In the city once a patient leaves the consulting room there is no more responsibility,” he said.
“However in the country doctors are on call all day.
“Yet any doctors who work in rural areas are much more appreciated and people often comment they are pleased I am here and I am doing the work that I am doing.”
Executive Health Group consultant Sophie Angus said the group was committed to helping Penola Doctors recruit new staff.
She acknowledged there was a shortage of regional doctors which has presented a challenge, but said the group would continue recruitment.
Reception and nursing staff at Penola doctors are trained in triage and patients are booked for appointments according to the urgency of their health-related concern.
Non-urgent health concerns are booked up to one to two weeks in advance to leave sufficient appointments each day for doctors to attend urgent medical concerns as quickly as possible.
“We do have patients booked one or even two weeks in advance and there are a number of appointments that are reserved every day,” Ms Angus said.
“We do this purposefully so that when urgent matters arrive, people can get appointments with a particular focus on sick children.
“We also categorise the elderly as well as those with fevers, trauma, painful conditions or vomiting as urgent.
“Those with colds, coughs, routine checks or blood tests or needing scripts, we do not categorise as urgent so they will usually be booked one to two weeks in advance to provide flexibility.”
Ms Angus said after hours medical episodes were addressed by city-based doctors via phone or internet to allow general practitioners to have some rest.
“They will only be called into the hospital in life-threatening situations,” he said.
“People can still come to the hospital and the nurses will work with it but unless it is classified as life threatening, then the local doctors will not be called in.”
