Rural GPs in spotlight on RACGP WA tour

Innovation, success stories and the significant challenges of remote general practice have all been in the spotlight during a packed RACGP visit to Western Australia.
 
RACGP President Dr Michael Wright and Vice President and WA Chair Dr Ramya Raman are among the college’s representatives in a delegation that has taken in Perth and far-flung areas of the state, including Kalgoorlie and Karratha.
 
The nine-day visit has also included a full schedule in Perth, where the RACGP WA Awards were announced, as well as several practice tours, a meeting with WA’s Chief Medical Officer, discussions with the Health Consumers’ Council and time with senior WA Health officials and politicians.
 
In Karratha, RACGP Rural Chair Associate Professor Michael Clements was also on hand to witness GPs in training benefiting from supervision to help them meet the needs of a rapidly growing community.
 
As well as visiting Panaceum Karratha, a remote supervision GP training site, Associate Professor Clements saw Sonic Health Plus Karratha, which has in-person supervision for GP training, Karratha Hospital, and Mawarnkarra Health Service, an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation which also provides in-person supervision.
 
‘The RACGP’s remote supervision of GPs in training at appropriate accredited practices means we can have more GPs training at more remote communities,’ he said.
 
However, Associate Professor Clements said access to housing and childcare are also significant issues in attracting young doctors, with the significant rental costs now apparent in the rapidly expanding town.
 
‘Karratha has a lot of young families coming in, so it needs more GPs to ensure those families can truly settle here,’ he said.
 
‘It’s not just the cost, which we’ve been able to help mitigate through RACGP placement incentives that allow GPs training in rural and remote areas to access funding to cover housing, moving, and living expenses, like childcare.
 
‘What’s also needed is access. A rural or remote community shouldn’t miss out on a future GP because they’re willing to move there with a spouse and children, but they can’t be sure they’ll be able to access suitable and affordable housing or the childcare they need.’

The RACGP delegation travelling across Western Australia, from Mandurah to Karratha. (Images: Jake Pinskier)

One GP in training in Karratha is Dr Nicole Wong, who works under the remote supervision of Geraldton-based GP Dr Keith Figueiredo.
 
‘I worked with my RACGP training coordinator to find a placement in Karratha,’ she said.
 
‘My partner and I knew we wanted to live in the country, and my first week has been great. Karratha has far more young families than other rural areas. Almost all my patients this week have been women and children, which is a contrast.
 
‘And especially in a place with so many young families like Karratha, it’s easy to see yourself practicing here for years, taking trips to camp in Karijini or the Bungle Bungles.
 
‘If you grew up in the city, you need to experience rural life to see your future there.’
 
Meanwhile, Dr Wright also emphasised the central role of GPs in rural areas while on a visit to the rural mining town of Kalgoorlie, which sits more than 1700 kilometres south of Karratha.
 
‘We know general practice is critical to communities all around the country, but no more so than in rural communities,’ he told newsGP.
 
‘That’s why we’re here – to highlight the importance of general practice to communities and to encourage junior doctors to choose general practice as a career.
 
‘General practice is important everywhere including in the major cities, but in regional and rural areas general practices are the lifeblood of the community and need to be properly supported.’
 
Dr Raman described the Kalgoorlie visit as ‘a fantastic opportunity for RACGP leadership to meet our rural GPs, GPs in training, and Rural Generalists and understand the community needs’.
 
‘Right across WA we are committed to the ongoing development of health professionals and providing them with the resources to deliver high-quality primary healthcare across the state,’ she said.
 
‘It’s great to engage with GP registrars and listen to future practitioners about their aspirations, their needs and wants and how we get them to be the best versions of themselves in a professional setting – for their own benefit and that of their patients.’
 
Attracting and retaining GPs, as well as successful health funding innovations, have been among the key topics of discussion in the Kalgoorlie itinerary, which includes stops at the Rural Clinical School at the Kalgoorlie Health Campus, and meetings with the WA Country Health Service.
 
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RACGP WA remote supervision rural generalism