PENOLA will have its first resident doctor in years when a new general practitioner moves to the town on a full-time five-year contract.
The appointment follows a long reliance on a locum doctor, with some residents reporting waiting up to one week for a general medical appointment.
The news has been welcomed by the Penola and District Medical Group, which has been concerned over the implications of Australia’s doctor shortage on the town.
Support group chair Bill Murray said while the appointment should be heralded, the town should aim for three permanent doctors to lessen the burden on the resident and locum GP.
“With our aging population it is quite concerning that residents are not able to go see a regular doctor,” he said.
“Seeing a different doctor almost every time, the professionals do not get a chance to get to know the patient’s ongoing medical needs.”
“Locums have provided a tremendous service to us here in Penola but when patients see a different doctor all the time, it is difficult to explain the symptoms and they really need that continuity of care.”
“The more doctors we can have the more services we can offer to the community without compromising the appointments for regular people,” Mr Murray said.
“At the moment it can be a week’s wait to see a general practitioner which is far too long.
“Our goal is for people to be able to get an appointment within two days.”
Mr Murray said the diversity of the town’s population would provide the new and existing medical practitioners with unique professional challenges.
“We still have quite a few children being born and our primary school population is healthy but we also have an interesting group of ages,” he said.
“Having a full-time GP now allows us to be able to provide a preventative health system before any issues get too bad.”
Mr Murray said he hoped to attract more medical professionals to the town, with a view to expand services outside of Penola.
“It would offer a great service to the community because there are a lot of elderly people living around those areas which are reliant on others for travel to their appointments,” he said.
“However, we must ensure that we do not burn out our practitioners as a community and understand the immense pressure they are under.
“The hospital will still lend a hand if necessary and will not call in the doctor unless it is a life-threatening situation.”
Minor tasks, including injections and blood pressure tests, will be handled by practice nurses.
“There are still a lot of care plans that are not collapsing but are getting behind by not having enough staff to keep up to the demand,” Mr Murray said.
“The new GP will give a great benefit for the Penola residents, the hospital and the Pinchunga residents as we are an aging population.”
