THE Rural Doctors Association of NSW (RDA NSW) has called on the major parties contesting the state election to commit to better support for rural hospitals.
RDA NSW president Dr Christopher Gittoes said in the past two election campaigns RDA NSW had called for state government support for rural hospitals in NSW.
"Unfortunately, the same issues that burned in the past two campaigns remain topical now with this election looming," Dr Gittoes said.
"Despite our calls to increase activity in rural hospitals and maintain local hospital services, we have seen the further loss of rural district hospital obstetric and procedural services in locations around NSW."
He said those living in smaller rural towns didn't expect they would have their coronary bypass surgery in their town, but they deserved access to solid primary and initial hospital care.
He said they should also be able to have day surgery and simple procedures performed as closely to home as possible.
"Women should be able to safely give birth as close as possible to home without having to travel hours for weeks on end to a distant maternity unit.
"Time and again it has been shown that district hospitals are both a safe and cost-effective setting in which to provide hospital and basic procedural and obstetric care.
"Furthermore, without strong local foundations of primary care, both patient care and health budgets explode.”
Dr Gittoes said the current state government had been supportive of the development of the NSW rural generalist program.
"We welcome the government's ongoing funding of the rural generalist program that will enable our patients to be managed by well-trained doctors in obstetrics, anaesthetics and emergency medicine closer to home."
He said federal governments had increased the funding for medical students in the past few years and as such there was expected to be a "tsunami" of Australian-trained medical graduates flooding the market in the coming years.
"The rural generalist program hopes to capitalise on this by focusing training for these graduates, so that when they become junior doctors they can access rural-specific training.
"This will result in young doctors receiving the training they require to work confidently in rural practice.
"Previous programs have failed, miserably, in supplying a pipeline of doctors to the bush.
"The incoming state government will need to put its money where its mouth is and ensure there are viable rural hospitals in which these doctors can work.
"They are the future, the pipeline, of rural medicine.
"This will require an investment in rural hospitals to ensure current services are maintained (and not reduced as has happened), and even be expanded to enable more procedural work to be undertaken at them."
