Statewide
Rural doctors are warning they are being increasingly sidelined in the medical care of pregnant women as doctor shortages worsen and maternity units remain at risk.
News
Goondiwindi GP Matt Masel says he is in the advanced stages of meeting Health Minister Yvette D’Ath for urgent talks, where he will present his “collaborative healthcare model” as the best way forward to getting more doctors into regional areas.
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The maternity crisis gripping central Queensland also has interstate hospitals in its clutches, a national emergency that needs a combined federal and state government response, according to the Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA).
The State Government wants to have more doctors with advanced mental health skills working across rural Queensland, but those in the field are wondering where they will come from and how they will be funded.
The decision to loosen medical controls in Queensland’s public health response to Covid has doctors worried as clinical staff shortages show little sign of easing before the next viral wave hits, adding further stress to the community and a health system already severely strained.
A Federal Government policy change is threatening to drain rural Queensland’s already shallow pool of overseas trained doctors, further straining a medical system under severe stress.
New Covid cases in Queensland in the last 24 hours have plunged by nearly 3000 cases on the numbers posted Thursday, but that’s cold comfort to a leading epidemiologist who says the tide is on the rise.
