D-DAY is approaching for the state's rural GPs to sign the new contract to work as independent medical contractors with Country Health SA Local Health Network.
Friday is the final day to sign following months of intense negotiations between Rural Doctors' Association of SA and CHSA LHN.
The process began in December when RDASA rejected the first contract offer, and continued following the subsequent offer and refusal in February which threatened to see doctors locked out of country hospitals.
However, a breakdown in communications saw CHSA LHN cease negotiations with RDASA and instead seek to negotiate and broker changes with the Australian Medical Association SA out of session - despite AMA SA not having any rural doctors represented on its negotiation panel.
AMA SA subsequently endorsed the April 1 contract offer - RDASA does not.
On April 30, CHSA LHN wrote to RDASA to inform it that its request to increase the Consumer Price Index had been denied and that they believed the contract negotiations had been completed.
RDASA president Scott Lewis said the negotiations were well and truly over and country doctors now had until this week's deadline to indicate whether they would continue to provide services or not.
"I don't know where that stands at the moment, how many members are going to withdraw services; time will tell," he said.
"It's really hard, there are certainly places who are going to stand up and make a stand, but I think those are going to be the minority.
"The fact is we are working out here for the benefit of our patients and there aren't many of us that are willing to disenfranchise or inconvenience our patients that much by rendering their hospitals without any doctors.
"For some of us, it's a significant part of our income. A number of rural practices, particularly smaller ones, just wouldn't be viable without that income from the hospital as well."
