When news broke last week of the apparent revolt by GPs retained by Milton Hospital as visiting medical officers (VMOs), it was initially hard to make sense of the issue and its sudden escalation into threats of a walkout.
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After all, the offer of extra emergency department help in the form of nurse practitioners for the busy holiday season would seem on the face of it not only reasonable but welcome. The nurse practitioners would be working at the hospital at a time the population trebles with holiday-makers swamping the region. What could possibly be wrong with that?
The doctors fear two things. First, that the nurse practitioners are the thin end of the wedge of a new model of primary care that will see a further erosion of services at the hospital. Second, they question the nurse practitioners’ ability to deliver the appropriate level of care. Doctors also worry they, not the nurse practitioners, will be held liable if anything should go wrong.
Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISLHD) chief executive officer Margot Mains (pictured) sees things differently. She insists doctors were consulted about the nurse practitioner plan back in October and raised no objections then. She’s at a loss to know why it’s suddenly erupted into a threatened walkout by doctors.
From the community perspective, what’s of primary importance is that the hospital is equipped to cope with the summer influx of visitors and the inevitable procession of emergency department presentations. It is important residents and visitors can be confident of receiving treatment during the holiday period.
Intemperate and confrontational language will only corrode that confidence so we urge the doctors and the ISLHD to sort their differences out in a timely and respectful manner.
We are with the doctors when they say they are fighting to protect services at the hospital. Our involvement in the campaign to have maternity services returned to the hospital demonstrates our advocacy on behalf of the community.
However, on the issue of nurse practitioners, we are yet to see how their temporary assignment to the hospital threatens service levels.
If there is a genuine concern about liability, it should be addressed.
That will involve calm dialogue between doctors and the health district boss.
