A western Victorian MP is calling on the state government to intervene in contract negotiations between a GP working in a small rural town and Grampians Health.
The community of Stawell, about three hours' drive north-west of Melbourne, was left reeling last month by the resignation of two prominent GPs: Swetha Bandaru and Eleazer Okwor-Ojwang.
A third practitioner, Adnan Rasheed, has since announced he will also leave the town at the end of this month following 15 years of service working in Stawell and travelling back to Melbourne on weekends.
The move will devastate Stawell's population of about 8,500 people, essentially halving the number of practising doctors in town.
Lowan MP Emma Kealy spoke in state parliament on Tuesday, saying her office had been "overwhelmed" with calls from worried residents.
"Stawell locals [are] desperately concerned that not only are they losing a great GP and beloved community member, but already the community is desperately short of GPs," she said.
The ABC understands Dr Rasheed has resigned amid a contract dispute regarding pay.
Ms Kealy asked Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas to intervene, and said Dr Rasheed would remain if his conditions were reinstated.
"The contract offered is unfair, inequitable, vastly different from the contract that he has worked under for a long time," she told parliament.
"[The offer] is completely blind to the medical workforce crisis that so many hospitals and communities are facing right across Victoria."
Grampians Health declined to comment on the nature of the negotiations, instead stating that contracts varied and would continue to be tailored to particular doctors.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Victorian health department said they would not comment on individual staffing issues and hospital administrators were best placed to make decisions about employment.
They acknowledged that recruiting and retaining GPs in regional areas was challenging but primary care was a responsibility of the federal government.
They said they would continue to advocate for more funding for primary care services and initiatives to attract and retain more GPs.
Ms Kealy's speech followed comments in federal parliament by her Nationals colleague, Mallee MP and Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health Anne Webster.
"One outgoing doctor described the Stawell community as his second family but told me that financially he couldn't go on practising in the town under new contract conditions he was offered by Grampians Health," Ms Webster told parliament on Monday.
Health service trying to recruit doctors
Chief medical officer at Grampians Health Matthew Hadfield said his operation relied on GPs who commuted to work from Melbourne.
"It's physically exhausting to keep that up day-in day-out, week-in week-out," Mr Hadfield said.
"So it isn't totally surprising that when opportunities arise nearer to home and family … that some doctors who provide a great service for many years choose to move closer to their homes and families."
Mr Hadfield said the health service was working to recruit young doctors by offering them a facility in Stawell that provided administrative support so they could focus on patient care.
Locals unable to get appointments
Stawell resident and former manager of community services at the hospital Lynne MacKenzie said the health service should be incentivising long-standing, well-respected doctors to stay.
She said the Ararat Medical Centre, a GP clinic in a neighbouring town, was unable to take on any new patients.
"The transport [from Stawell] to Ararat and Horsham is negligible for people to be able to get appointments," she said.
Ms MacKenzie has been travelling to Ballarat for her own GP appointments after her doctor left Stawell years ago.
"Why would a health service offer anything less [as a salary] when there is such a critical shortage of GPs? You have to bend over backwards to keep the staff you have in the first place," she said.
