"More GP support in rural areas"

I am a GP and I recently undertook a 4 week locum in rural Kimberley. Over the course of this locum, I was at most times the only doctor in the community, albeit supported by fantastic remote area nurses and Aboriginal health practitioners.

As a GP I am trained primarily in primary and preventative health care, which I am passionate about. The majority of presentations to the local health centre fall within this category, however, being almost 200kms from the nearest hospital, the centre also provides emergency care to the community.

As a GP I do have a level of emergency training, though it is different to that of emergency physicians - doctors who have completed a rigorous five-year training program in emergency medicine and who work exclusively in that area. I believe this is the type of doctor who will attend to a major emergency presentation at a metropolitan hospital emergency department.

The availability of the Emergency Telehealth Service in the local health centre meant that when major emergency presentations occurred, an emergency physician could be contacted quickly via video link and was able to direct the care of the critically unwell patient. In my opinion, the benefits of this are numerous, including:

- provision of a standard of emergency care much closer to that delivered in metropolitan areas;

- allowing the generally busy clinic to continue running and managing its regular presentations even when a major emergency presentation occurred; and

- clinical staff feeling more supported and less isolated.

I believe many rural and remote areas are experiencing difficulties attracting GPs, and it is my anecdotal experience that a common reason GPs are reluctant to work in such areas is that they do not feel adequately equipped to deal with major emergencies. The Emergency Telehealth Service was of great comfort to me whilst I was working in the Kimberley region and I may not have accepted the role at all had I not been aware that this service was in place.