Physicians to resume Inverell services

9 October 2008

Hunter New England Health is pleased to announce Inverell will have access to two general physicians, starting on Tuesday 14 October.
The physicians will each visit Inverell one day per week (a total of two days per week) and will be supported by the highly-skilled staff and General Practitioners at Inverell Hospital.
Hunter New England Health Director of Primary and Community Networks Scott McLachlan said the recruitment of the highly skilled physicians, who will be based in Armidale, was a significant step in re-establishing general physician services in Inverell.
“This is a positive step for Inverell health services, giving patients ease of access to specialist care,” Mr McLachlan said.
“Since Inverell’s own resident physician, Dr John Gibson, passed away, patients have been required to travel away from Inverell to see specialists.
“While endeavours to recruit a replacement have been unsuccessful the use of the ‘specialist outreach services’ model of care, which will see the doctors based in Armidale but serving Inverell on a regular basis, will create increased ease of access for patients in the future,” he said.
“Having the doctors visit Inverell on a regular basis will mean patients will no longer be required to travel to Armidale or Tamworth for treatment, allowing them to spend less time travelling away from home and family.”
Dr Sergio Diez and Dr Sudheer Ahamed are both looking forward to working in Inverell. The pair will be travelling to Inverell from their regular base at Armidale Hospital. 
Dr Diez has been working in South Africa as a general physician in both the public and private sectors for more than 10 years. He has extensive experience in intensive care and a special interest in diabetes.
Dr Ahamed has more than seven years experience working as a physician in public hospitals in Oman and India. He has a special interest in infectious diseases.
“We look forward to welcoming the doctors and the services they will be providing directly to Inverell,” Mr McLachlan said.

A General Physician undertakes specialised training to become qualified to diagnose and treat complex medical problems in adults. They are different to general practitioners who are family doctors and they differ from single-system specialists who focus on a particular discipline such as cardiology or gastroenterology.

(HNE-1569)

Contact: Carisa Josephs

Phone: (02) 6767 7135 or 0428 106 183