Rural GP vacancy hike not necessarily 'cause for alarm'

"Vacancies are a very one-dimensional indicator of the situation," she said.

"Yes the number of vacancies has risen, but there are 652 GPs and registrars working in country SA as we speak, which is more than we've ever had."

Ms Poole said the increased number of vacancies since December was a sign that things were potentially "returning to normal" after COVID-19.

"Looking back over the past two or three years, I think we've been sitting at an average of 45 vacancies, but there was a lot of uncertainty about the level of disruption to GP services (brought about by COVID-19), in terms of flipping over to telehealth and what the model would be like beyond that, so (advertised vacancies) likely dropped off because of that," she said.

"Of a workforce size of about 650, the genuine vacancies which have come about as a result of doctors leaving, as opposed to businesses growing, is probably less than 5pc. If you look at that across any kind of normal market turnover, that's well within the bandwidth of reasonable."

Ms Poole said 27 of the practices with vacancies listed, were teaching practices with registrars on-board, who could potentially "stay on".

"We are getting an increasing number of registrars who are finishing their training and staying in the practice (where they trained)," she said.

And while there are encouraging signs in terms of filling vacancies - a British doctor has been contracted to fill a vacancy in Booleroo Centre - Ms Poole said GP proceduralist vacancies - of which there are seven - were particularly concerning.

"GP proceduralists are the people who are highly-trained in obstetrics or anaesthetics. There are shortages in Port Lincoln and Kadina, and a standout shortage in Ceduna," she said.

"But the regions are looking at different models, and the local health networks are working very hard to come up with solutions."

Ms Poole said encouraging discussions with training organisation GPEx were underway to look at turning non-teaching practices into teaching practices, without overburdening the resident GP, through the use of remote supervision models.

RELATED READING: New GP trainees arrive to aid EP health

Peterborough is one town feeling the effects of low rural doctor numbers, with a shortage threatening the closure of the town's GP clinic.

But the closure date has been postponed, with an extra few weeks now available for a solution to be found.

In late April, Goyder's Line Medical - which has centres in Jamestown, Orroroo and Peterborough - announced the Peterborough Medical Centre would be closing on June 4. But services will now continue to be offered until June 30.

Yorke and Northern LHN chief Roger Kirchner released a statement to Peterborough locals on Friday, detailing the postponed closure.

"In the meantime, both the YNLHN and Goyder's Line Medical Peterborough will continue to work together to explore a long-term solution to provide a sustainable model for GP services to the community," Mr Kirchner's statement read.

While the extension of the service is positive news for the town, Peterborough District Council mayor Ruth Whittle said it was vital the clinic remained open permanently.

"Peterborough services about 2000 people, that includes tourists and outlying areas, and 2000 people not having access to a medical service would be an absolute disaster," she said.

If the centre closes permanently, Peterborough locals will have to travel to either Jamestown or Orroroo for GP services, but Ms Whittle said that would just put pressure on those clinics.

"There are also a lot of older people in this community, and a lot who don't have vehicles, so how would they even get there?" she said.

"There is no bus service, and even if you did have a bus service, if one person had the flu, everyone could have it by the time the bus did the run to Jamestown and back, so that's not viable either."

Ms Whittle said the community would continue to fight the impending closure.

Goyder's Line Medical was contacted for comment.

THE 2021-22 federal budget revealed the cessation of funding for the John Flynn Placement Program, which was due to open for 2022 applications this week.

Funding, and subsequently the program, will finish at the end of this year.

Established in 1997, the JFPP offers rural placements for up to 300 medical students each year, who then spend two weeks a year, for three or four years, working alongside a rural doctor.

RELATED READING: Here's what was in the budget for rural health

While funding will be redirected to a pre-vocational training program targeting recently-graduated doctors, Rural Doctors Workforce Agency chief executive officer Lyn Poole said it was a shame that the new program was at the expense of the JFPP.

"I didn't think it needed to be an 'either/or' conversation," she said.

"I thought there should have been capacity to fund both programs.

"Those experiences while students are still in university, such as the JFPP, really do have the potential to influence young people's career choices.

"To take that away, and replace it with a different program further along the pipeline, is a bit disappointing - both are needed."

Ms Poole has attended JFPP orientation sessions in the past few years, with the importance of the program clear at those events.

"The excitement those students have to be on the program, you can see it in their faces - it's so uplifting," she said.

"For the program to all of a sudden be stopped, including for those halfway through the program, is disappointing."

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