Innovative approach to care set to support Narrabri doctors
9 December 2009
A new treatment program will be introduced at Narrabri District Health Service this month, to decrease the after-hours pressure on the hospital’s doctors.
The program has been designed to provide the doctors with an attractive work-life balance, and to give patients the most appropriate level of care.
The initiative will change how some patients are treated in the emergency department (ED). Under the new program, those who attend the Narrabri ED with less urgent conditions after-hours will be assessed by an appropriately skilled senior nurse, and referred to see the doctor if needed.
Narrabri Health Service Manager Sharon Simpson said that often people who visited emergency departments were seeking treatment that Registered Nurses are quite capable of providing – not necessarily a doctor.
“This new system will relieve the pressure on our General Practitioners. It will also empower our nursing staff to utilise their wide range of professional skills, while at the same time ensuring people get access to care with the most appropriate health professional,” Ms Simpson said.
Hunter New England Health is fortunate to have four dedicated General Practitioners (GPs) currently working as part of the Narrabri Hospital team; Dr Ojah, Dr Moroney, Dr Paas, and Dr Hussain.
These doctors fulfil on-call duties at the facility’s emergency department, as well as provide care for the hospital’s acute patients.
“HNE Health has strong working relationships with all four doctors who currently share the roster at Narrabri Hospital. We value their loyalty and dedication, and we meet with these GPs monthly to discuss any issues and areas of need,” Ms Simpson said.
“We are serious about retaining dedicated health professionals and encouraging them to live and work in the Narrabri area well into the future, and this innovative ED program will support that aim,” Ms Simpson said.
HNE Health Director of Operations, Primary and Community Networks, Scott McLachlan, said the emergency department program had been highly successful in Walcha and Guyra, with Narrabri set to reap similar benefits from the initiative.
“The feedback from Walcha and Guyra GPs has been extremely encouraging, with doctors indicating the program positively impacted on their work-life balance as a result of fewer after-hours call outs,” Mr McLachlan said.
“HNE Health is continuously developing innovative, effective ways to recruit and retain GPs, and we want to address issues such as the impact of long working hours, on-call demands, and the sense of isolation some doctors’ experience in rural medicine.”
(HNE-2095)
Contact: Carisa Green
Phone: (02) 6767 7135