The Royal Flying Doctor Service is expanding its primary health and preventative medicine operation, finalising an agreement to take over two GP clinics in central west New South Wales.
It is the first time the charity has taken on pre-existing practices, one in Gilgandra and the other in Warren, continuing a move towards increasing its primary healthcare service footprint.
"Investing in primary healthcare at the point of community is really an investment in preventing more costly and potentially more harmful complications arising from people not having access to good primary care services," RFDS South East Section CEO Greg Sam said.
"That's part of the reason why the [RFDS] has always seen primary care complementing the work we do in emergency retrieval."
For 20 years, the Rural and Remote Medical Service (RaRMS) has operated GP clinics across rural and regional New South Wales. In May, its CEO Mark Burdack announced clinics in Walgett and Lightning Ridge would close entirely due to soaring locum costs.
Further clinic closures were then announced as the charitable organisation signalled its withdrawal from primary healthcare in New South Wales.
"We don't think the policy settings in New South Wales are supportive of general practice," Mr Burdack said.
"We've made the strategic decision that it's time to move out until the policy framework is more aligned to supporting preventative care in the way we think it's needed."
Mr Burdack believed NSW health policy was focused on expanding the state's acute care capability and said other states had taken ownership over primary health, seeing the federal government merely as the funding source.
"In Queensland, Victoria, and South Australia, you see a very different attitude. They see primary care as something they need to nurture and support," he said.
"If someone goes to a GP for a sprained wrist, that will cost them about $39. If they go to a hospital emergency department for exactly the same thing that'll cost around $375 to the state.
"By [the NSW government] putting all the money into emergency capacity, you're taking all the money out of stopping people from needing emergency services."
Renewed purpose
The risk of losing access to a local GP is existential for the community of Warren, which some years ago formed the Warren Health Action Committee, initially to address accommodation shortages.
Committee member and former farmer Tony McAlary said locals sprung into action after hearing the town's only GP clinic might close.
"We do have an older demographic and apart from the inconvenience for people having to travel for hours to get access to services, it's actually vital to our own commercial viability," he said.
"People go to Dubbo to get essential services and when they go there, they take their other business as well."
Following extensive meetings between the committee, Warren Shire Council, and RaRMS, the RDFS was seen as the most natural fit.
"Rather than simply being an emergency service for the far west, the Flying Doctor sees a big need here in the central part of New South Wales," Mr McAlary said.
Ensuring continuity of service at the new clinics is the first priority for the RFDS, but CEO Greg Sam said bringing the government back to the table with a renewed purpose around preventative care was also high on the agenda.
"Working with community to have sustainable primary care services means that, hopefully, the need for acute services, and secondary complications arising particularly from chronic disease, can be at least addressed," he said.
