South-west below average for most medical specialties

The District of Workforce Shortage (DWS) classification assesses the number of specialists in a particular field for every 100,000 people. If an area is below the national average in an area it is classified DWS, giving it priority access to overseas-trained specialist doctors.

Three south-west sub-regions graded under the DWS system - Warrnambool, Colac-Corangamite, and Glenelg-Southern Grampians - all failed to meet the national average across several specialties.

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Warrnambool recorded the best results of the three sub-regions, with access to general surgery, medical oncology, and ophthalmology at or above the national average. But it was below par for anaesthetics, cardiology, diagnostic radiology, obstetrics and gynecology, and psychiatry.

The results showed an improvement in general surgery, which was below average 12 months ago, but the city has slipped in diagnostic radiology and obstetrics and gynecology.

South West Healthcare is the major hospital in both the city and the region and chief executive officer Craig Fraser has spoken openly about the difficulties recruiting staff since the COVID-19 pandemic began three years ago. Mr Fraser told The Standard SWH was constantly working to recruit staff and expand its specialist services.

"South West Healthcare is constantly recruiting medical specialists to ensure that we are able to provide a broad range of services to our community," he said. "This is something that is ongoing and will continue to be until such time that we have a full complement, (however this is likely to take years with current recruiting challenges across Australia). We continue to pursue all avenues to recruit specialists and staffing, particularly areas where we are below our ideal levels."

Diagnostic radiology isn't an area SWH covers, but the other specialties are all areas the health service is trying to consolidate or develop.

"We have managed to fill a number of key roles recently and have welcomed five new senior medical staff members to our team since late last year, while conversations are ongoing with a number of others who will arrive in the coming weeks and months," Mr Fraser said. "We are so pleased to be able to welcome new families to the region and thank the community for helping us to make our new recruits feel at home here in the south-west."

While Warrnambool's report card left room for improvement, the situation was worse in the rest of the south-west. Glenelg-Southern Grampians and Colac-Corangamite were below the national average for anaesthetics, cardiology, diagnostic radiology, medical oncology, obstetrics and gynaecology, ophthalmology and psychiatry. The only service that met the national benchmark in those areas was general surgery.

Portland District Health has had well-documented problems with its obstetrics and ophthalmology services. The service appointed Samantha Sharp as its new chief executive officer in September 2022 and released a strategic plan in mid-March 2023, which said PDH aimed to offer equal or better services than comparable hospitals.

The Standard asked PDH what the hospital had done to improve its specialist services, but it didn't respond by deadline. Western District Health Service in Hamilton hasn't improved any of its specialist areas since the same time last year. The Standard asked WDHS what action the hospital had taken to recruit specialist doctors and improve its below-average services, but it declined to respond.