HEALTH workers and local government officials in Glen Innes have explored another avenue to gain much-needed support for the town's doctor crisis, and it could be rolled out across the region.
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Almost 30 locals and health professionals attended a meeting on Wednesday morning to hear from Dr Cath Cosgrave, who is leading the Attract, Connect, Stay program alongside Services for Australian Remote and Rural Allied Health.
The program has been successfully trialled in Canada, and focuses on developing a community-based effort to bring doctors to rural areas, then give them a sense of belonging and make them want to stay.
Local doctor James White said he believes the program could help on a local scale, but said more support is needed across the entire region.
"It could work on a community level, but more widely there is a regional problem with a shortage of GPs in every country town," he said.
"There's 70,000 people outside of Tamworth and Armidale in the Gunnedah, Moree, Narrabri, Inverell, Glen Innes and Tenterfield shires, and they're all in urgent need of medical and allied health staff."
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As part of that, participating regions would receive a community-funded and managed rural health workforce coordinator, who's role would be to network and attract health professionals to the area.
The Glen Innes Severn Council has been encouraged to submit an expression of interest to gain someone for that position, and mayor Carol Sparks - who is a former nurse - believes it's a system that could work.
"I think the key to what came out of today is that we want the governance committee, the people who are going to be overseeing this, to be community-based," she said.
"Rather than the council or Hunter New England Health or anything like, we want it to be community-run, so that you have that flexibility."
She said the situation is incredibly desperate in town, with only two emergency doctors left, meaning locums are required to fill in the gaps.
But when there are scheduling issues, or a locum cannot make their shift for an unforeseen reason, the hospital can be left without a doctor, including in August last year when a woman died after having to be taken to Tamworth.
Cr Sparks is hopeful the program could cause meaningful change locally, describing it as a "light at the end of the tunnel", and said any help would be welcomed to take the stress off local general practitioners.
"They're distressed and upset that it could come to an end and all their work and all their efforts in the past will come to nothing," she said.
"They don't feel very positive that's for sure, they're very upset and anxious."
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