DOCTORS have the chance to earn about $60,000 a year more than the NT Chief Minister — with a house, car and the chance to make a difference in remote indigenous health care.
Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation wants two general practitioners to provide health services in Tennant Creek, about 800km south of Darwin, and communities across the Barkly.
The salary is advertised at $340,000, with a car and a house, on seek.com.au.
The figure is slightly more than a regular magistrate’s salary, almost $200,000 more than a run-of-the-mill politician and also tops Chief Minister Adam Giles, who at last report earned about $280,000 a year.
Anyinginyi general manager Barb Shaw said the rise in popularity of “freelancing” among doctors and nurses, contracted by employment agencies, doing short stints in communities when vacancies arose, made it harder to retain permanent workers.
“We need to look at packages around this level to attract experienced professionals,” she said. “It’s ideal for us to have permanent staff (otherwise) it’s difficult to build a client care relationship.”
Ms Shaw said she had seen similar positions advertised for $500,000 in country western New South Wales.
She said rural and remote Territory doctors had exposure to a wide range of complex chronic disease and patients with comorbidity – the presence of additional diseases as the result of a primary disease – which enhanced their professional experience.
The ad stated two full time positions were available and the organisation would “consider GPs to work full time, or part time with a six week rotating FIFO arrangement, job sharing with another GP”.
The Australian Medical Association NT boss, associate professor Robert Parker, said high salaries reflected market forces and the issue of attracting people who would invest themselves in a region.
Prof Parker said the federal “prevocational general practice placements program” – which was axed in the 2014 Abbott Government budget cuts – had been expensive to run at $55,000-a-head on average, but was invaluable in helping medical interns realise the benefits of a remote career.
Prof Parker said GPs needed corporate knowledge and experience to avoid potentially disastrous situations.
“There was an incident in Central Australia where people on medication had to be reviewed yearly,” he said.
“The information was stored electronically.
“Because of the staff turnover the review was overlooked, and medication was stopped but the patients didn’t make a fuss about it so diabetics and (others with serious illnesses) were without medication for a time.