❓ WA Parliamentary Question on Notice regarding the number, cost, and vacancies of General Practitioners employed by or contracted to the Department of Health or the West Australian Country Health Service across various regions.
AnsweredQoN 2340Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
(1) With relation to General Practitioners employed by or contracted to the Department of Health or the West Australian Country Health Service, what is the number of full time service equivalent (FSE) positions, the head count and the total cost of service for the following regions: (a) South West; (b) Great Southern; (c) Goldfields-Esperance; (d) Wheatbelt; (e) Peel; (f) Mid West; (g) Gascoyne; (h) Pilbara; and (i) Kimberley? (2) For each of the above regions, can the Minister please provide a list of all vacant General Practitioner positions including specific location, and length of time the position has been vacant?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
13 February 2018
Responded by
Minister for Health
Response time
12 days
For the purpose of Question on Notice 2340 a General Practitioner (GP) is defined as any senior registered medical practitioner contracted on either a Medical Services Agreement (MSA) or as a Salaried Medical Officer with the WA Country Health Service who is not registered by the Australian Health Practitioner Registration Agency (AHPRA) in a non-GP specialist category (eg. specialist Surgeon or Specialist Obstetrician). It should be noted that some Practitioners included would have GP specialist qualifications (e.g. FRACGP) but not all. There may be some included in the ‘Day Rate Locum’ category number on an MSA that are trainees and/or registrars, and it is not possible to specifically identify these from our systems.
The information has been provided separately for Salaried Medical Practitioners (Table 1A) and Medical Practitioners on MSAs (Table 1B) below based on information available from current systems.
(1) Table 1A: Salaried Medical Practitioners
Region
Number of FTE* positions (Oct 2017 FTE)
Head count (Oct 2017)
Total cost of service**
(a) South West
17.86
27
$7,333,796
(b) Great Southern
5.14
6
$1,864,894
(c) Goldfields-Esperance
5.86
8
$1,673,400
(d) Wheatbelt
3.93
5
$1,515,002
(e) Peel***
Nil
Nil
Nil
(f) Mid West
20.75
24
$8,335,316
(g) Gascoyne****
(h) Pilbara
29.23
33
$12,032,501
(i) Kimberley
37.26
47
$15,678,354
Total
120.02
150
$48,433,262
*Based on actual Month-To-Date (MTD) Full Time Equivalents (FTE) as at October 2017 pay month
**Total cost of service has been provided for the 2016/17 Financial Year and encompasses all services provided by the Medical Practitioners (as defined above) including GP services provided by these Medical Practitioners
***Not within WACHS boundary
****Combined under WACHS Midwest Region
Table 1B: Contract Medical Practitioners on MSAs
Region
Number of FTE positions**
Head count for MSAs
Total cost of service**
FFS Contracts
Day Rate Locum contracts
Central Office
Nil
10
(a) South West
71
32
(b) Great Southern
38
34
(c) Goldfields-Esperance
13
37
(d) Wheatbelt
47
35
(e) Peel***
Nil
Nil
(f) Mid West
15
40
(g) Gascoyne
-
(h) Pilbara
Nil
35
(i) Kimberley
Nil
41
TOTAL MSA contracts #
184 #
264 #
TOTAL HEADCOUNT
169
227
(2) The position vacancies listed below relate to the GP definition above for the purposes of PQ 2340 and only relate to established salaried WACHS positions.
Region
Vacant Positions
Specific Location
Length of time position has been vacant (Approximate period)
(a) South West
-
(b) Great Southern
-
(c) Peel
Nil
Nil
Nil
(d) Wheatbelt
-
(e) Goldfields-Esperance
-
(f) Mid West
-
(g) Gascoyne
-
(h) Pilbara
-
(i) Kimberley
DMO anaesthetics* - 1 FTE
Kununurra
68 Weeks
DMO Obstetrics* - 1 FTE
Derby
68 Weeks
DMO Non-Proceduralists* - 2 FTE
Halls Creek
512 Weeks
DMO Non-Proceduralists* - 3 FTE
Fitzroy Crossing and Derby
16 Weeks
Notes:
*These positons are currently filled with locums on an MSA who may or may not hold GP fellowship.
The information has been provided separately for Salaried Medical Practitioners (Table 1A) and Medical Practitioners on MSAs (Table 1B) below based on information available from current systems.
(1) Table 1A: Salaried Medical Practitioners
Region
Number of FTE* positions (Oct 2017 FTE)
Head count (Oct 2017)
Total cost of service**
(a) South West
17.86
27
$7,333,796
(b) Great Southern
5.14
6
$1,864,894
(c) Goldfields-Esperance
5.86
8
$1,673,400
(d) Wheatbelt
3.93
5
$1,515,002
(e) Peel***
Nil
Nil
Nil
(f) Mid West
20.75
24
$8,335,316
(g) Gascoyne****
(h) Pilbara
29.23
33
$12,032,501
(i) Kimberley
37.26
47
$15,678,354
Total
120.02
150
$48,433,262
*Based on actual Month-To-Date (MTD) Full Time Equivalents (FTE) as at October 2017 pay month
**Total cost of service has been provided for the 2016/17 Financial Year and encompasses all services provided by the Medical Practitioners (as defined above) including GP services provided by these Medical Practitioners
***Not within WACHS boundary
****Combined under WACHS Midwest Region
Table 1B: Contract Medical Practitioners on MSAs
Region
Number of FTE positions**
Head count for MSAs
Total cost of service**
FFS Contracts
Day Rate Locum contracts
Central Office
Nil
10
(a) South West
71
32
(b) Great Southern
38
34
(c) Goldfields-Esperance
13
37
(d) Wheatbelt
47
35
(e) Peel***
Nil
Nil
(f) Mid West
15
40
(g) Gascoyne
-
(h) Pilbara
Nil
35
(i) Kimberley
Nil
41
TOTAL MSA contracts #
184 #
264 #
TOTAL HEADCOUNT
169
227
(2) The position vacancies listed below relate to the GP definition above for the purposes of PQ 2340 and only relate to established salaried WACHS positions.
Region
Vacant Positions
Specific Location
Length of time position has been vacant (Approximate period)
(a) South West
-
(b) Great Southern
-
(c) Peel
Nil
Nil
Nil
(d) Wheatbelt
-
(e) Goldfields-Esperance
-
(f) Mid West
-
(g) Gascoyne
-
(h) Pilbara
-
(i) Kimberley
DMO anaesthetics* - 1 FTE
Kununurra
68 Weeks
DMO Obstetrics* - 1 FTE
Derby
68 Weeks
DMO Non-Proceduralists* - 2 FTE
Halls Creek
512 Weeks
DMO Non-Proceduralists* - 3 FTE
Fitzroy Crossing and Derby
16 Weeks
Notes:
*These positons are currently filled with locums on an MSA who may or may not hold GP fellowship.
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