Wattle Range Council desperate to restaff closed Beachport GP clinic

A regional council has been caught out as it looks to restaff the closure of a coastal town’s only GP clinic, with residents now forced to make a one-hour round trip for medical services.

Beachport residents now face a 30-minute drive to access medical services after the town’s only medical clinic closed its doors in December.

The Wattle Range Council has been caught on the hop by the closure and is now desperately seeking medical practitioners to take up the lease of Beachport’s clinic.

Wattle Range Council Chief Executive Ben Gower said council was “left in the dark” when the former lease holder, Dr David Senior, announced his intention to vacate the building.

“His lease expired in May of last year. We wrote to him and asked if he intended to renew it under an automatic right of renewal clause,” Mr Gower said.

“His office had initially responded saying they were going to do so — a number of months passed with no further information.

“He didn't actually advise us that he was going to vacate the premises and terminate the lease until the 14th of December despite multiple letters, multiple emails, and multiple phone calls.”

Beachport Medical Services is facing closure if it is unable to secure two new GPs amid Australia's growing GP shortage. Picture: Supplied

In November last year the Messenger spoke with Dr Senior about the potential closure of the clinic.

At the time Dr Senior was attempting to lockdown staff to fill the roles of two GPs who had departed.

Despite advertising the position for months, Dr Senior was unable to find a replacement and said the national shortage of GP’s affected the regional areas worse.

Dr David Senior said the national GP shortage was a complicated issue starting at the University level. Picture: Brooke Miles Photography

“Most doctors coming through as GPs these days want to work in big cities,” he previously said.

“Of the ones that go to the country — very few of them want to go to small towns like Beachport.”

Mr Gower said formal expressions of interest opened on Monday, with council hopeful to “find some doctors for Beachport” by March.

Rural Doctors Association of South Australia president Dr Peter Rischbieth said the Beachport Medical Clinic was just the latest loss that could be attributed to the national GP shortage.

Rural Doctors Association of SA president Peter Rischbieth. Picture: Tait Schmaal

Compounding the state’s lack of rural GPs, Dr Rischbieth said for 16 years, South Australia had failed to create a “pipeline” for rural doctors.

“16 years ago, I went up to Queensland where they had a rural generalist training program,” he said.

“South Australia have not got a fully-funded rural generalist program, which is recognised in an industrial ward.”

Dr Rischbieth warned that lack of career infrastructure will mean junior doctors will be forced to travel interstate to find work “because we haven’t built that endpoint of their career pathway”.

“We’ve been lobbying the ministers for 16 years to establish this in South Australia,” he said.