Scheme to lure doctors to town

The City of Karratha has pledged a quarter of a million dollars towards a housing subsidy to attract more doctors to town. Councillors voted for up to $250,000 of the Medical Services Equalisation Scheme reserve fund, delivered in partnership with Rio Tinto and Woodside, to be allocated to support housing subsidies of up to $300 per week. The housing subsidy would apply per property for general practitioners and clinical practitioners over the next 12 months and would address the current shortage, as there were only five GPs in Karratha. Of the $250,000, $75,000 would be put towards a recruitment and retention marketing program to promote Karratha as an attractive destination for student and registrar doctors, which would be developed in partnership with the local medical sector. City of Karratha Mayor Peter Long said access to health services and cost of living were the two priorities in the latest community survey. “Attracting and retaining experienced medical professionals to live and work in regional areas is unfortunately a national issue and not unique to our region,” he said. “Council wants to ensure we are doing everything we can to remove barriers to doctors practiscing here and improve access to quality health care for our community.” “We are optimistic these initiatives will provide financial and lifestyle incentives to encourage doctors to come to Karratha.” There were 20 doctors at Karratha Health Campus, he said, but about 60 per cent of their time involved treating primary health patients who should otherwise be accessing community practices. The MSES was a program introduced in 2008 due to a critical shortage of GPs servicing a growing community that expired in 2018 and had $400,000 remaining in the fund.