A national campaign is underway to recruit doctors for Clermont and the Isaac region.
The newly created position of Director Medical Services Clermont and Hinterland has been advertised for two weeks with another two to go.
Mackay Hospital and Health Service A/Chief Medical Officer Dr David Farlow said positions for additional part time Senior Medical Officers were also advertised.
Their roles are part of a strategy to employ specialist doctors called Rural Generalists across the Isaac region.
While the health service has undertaken multiple previous recruitment campaigns for doctors under the Medical Officer Right of Private Practice model, the medical positions have been modified in line with recent feedback.
“These part-time appointments mean they could also work in private practice if they wanted to, or they might want to work in another hospital. For many doctors this is an attractive combination,” Dr Farlow said.
“Recruiting to part time positions will help share the load of on-call and weekend work.”
The positions are advertised with the Medical Journal of Australia, the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.
“We’re also putting the spotlight on these positions at the annual Rural Doctors Association of Queensland (RDAQ) conference this weekend and hope to generate some interest there,” he said.
Dr Farlow said the health service had been in negotiations with a potential candidate for the Director Medical Services who has chosen not to apply.
He said this had not deterred the health service from pushing forward with recruitment.
“If this latest recruitment push isn’t successful we will go back to the drawing board and see what else can be done,” he said.
Dr Farlow said there had been some inaccurate public criticism of the health service for allegedly failing to offer contracts to five interested doctors.
“This is untrue. I can’t discuss individual doctors without breaching their privacy, however I can say if a suitably qualified doctor applies for a position at the MPHS they will be successful.
“The community expects us to employ doctors with enough experience to work safely and who are prepared to do on-call work for when they are needed in an emergency.
“Not every doctor who works in Clermont or has visited Clermont has had either the interest or experience to do this.”
Dr Farlow said the health service would continue to employ locum doctors to care for emergency presentations, hospital patients and aged care residents to ensure they get the care they need.
