Mildura and the Grampians’ selection as trial sites for a ‘single employer model’ is a boost for local doctor recruitment, Member for Mallee and Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health Dr Anne Webster MP has said.
The single employer model (SEM) provides a single employment contract for trainee doctors preparing to become rural generalist doctors while they conclude their training.
One major benefit of the model is that doctors employed in the public sector retain their income and entitlements while training in private practice.
The SEM addresses an inequity in trainee salaries and entitlements for General Practice registrars and their hospital-based peers.
Five rural generalist positions per annum will be offered in 2025 and 2026 in both Mildura and at Grampians Health, with Bairnsdale the third site to benefit from the SEM trial.
“Within months of being appointed Shadow Minister, in March 2023 I organised the national Regional Health Workforce Summit in Mildura to address dire regional health workforce shortages. One of the clear policy proposals from those at the coalface and peak bodies grappling with the lack of doctors was the single employer model,” Dr Webster said.
The SEM has been so successful across the border that is now being rolled out in 5 further South Australian local health networks.
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