Medical Specialists

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:43): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Health and Wellbeing a question about the use of overseas specialists to fill positions in regional hospitals.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: On a recent visit to Eyre Peninsula I was informed that a maternity specialist, I believe an obstetrician, flies into Whyalla Hospital on a regular basis from Singapore, and that there are other medical specialists brought in from interstate to fill various roles in regional hospitals or health centres. My questions to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing are:

1. Can the minister confirm that doctors and specialists from overseas and interstate are being flown in to fill positions in city and regional hospitals?

2. Can he provide details about each individual case, including where they travel from and where they practise?

3. Can he outline how long have they been in those positions, the costs of their tenure and how it would compare with using local medical specialists and practitioners?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:44): I thank the honourable member for his question. If I could start with your last question: would we prefer to employ locals—of course, we would. We would always prefer to employ locals and, in particular, we are very keen to employ locals who are resident. In a recent trip to Eyre Peninsula, I visited four country towns who did not have a resident GP and the anxiety in those communities about not having emergency access to GPs is palpable. So of course we would always want to employ locals.

In terms of Whyalla, obviously Whyalla is a major regional centre. It has approximately 180 births per year and, just like any other regional centre, it is important for that community to have access to maternity services. Whyalla Hospital and Health Service has obstetrics and gynaecology specialist services, but unfortunately they are dependent on locum services. Whyalla Hospital relies on specialists to provide 24-hour maternity and gynaecological services.

All specialist locums are registered as specialists by the Australian medical board and credentialled as specialists in obstetrics and gynaecology. Locums are booked and rostered well in advance, with the hospital coordinating flights within Australia to Whyalla. The Whyalla Hospital is only responsible for the costs of a flight from a city in Australia to Whyalla. Any overseas locums that are used are expected to pay the cost of flights from overseas to reach Australia. Whyalla Hospital provides level 3 birthing services and a specialist gynaecology service, but there is no general practitioner obstetrician currently practising in Whyalla.

The last international medical graduate obstetrics and gynaecology specialist left Whyalla in February 2016, after four years of service. Regular locums are engaged to provide the service and locums can reside in Adelaide, interstate or overseas. As I said, if they are an overseas locum, we only pay for the last leg of the transport costs. I assure the people of Whyalla and the honourable member that all specialists have a specialist registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and credentialling in both obstetrics and gynaecology.