Dr Tony Lian-Lloyd, GP of 30 years in Quorn, backs Dr Scott Lewis’ critique of health authorities and decision to quit

A second country doctor says rural health is “in a crisis situation” and puts the blame squarely on SA Health.

Another long-serving rural doctor has spoken out about the woeful state of the health care system in regional South Australia.

A day after Dr Scott Lewis announced he would be walking away from his practice in Wudinna after 14 years, Quorn GP Dr Tony Lian-Lloyd has backed his colleague.

Dr Lian-Lloyd, a stalwart of the Quorn community since 1992, said many events over the past year demonstrated a lack of understanding on the part of health authorities.

“We’re in a crisis situation, and the health bureaucrats by and large I’ve got absolute contempt for,” Dr Lian-Lloyd said.

Dr Lian-Lloyd criticised SA Health’s response to the pandemic, and overall lack of support for rural doctors for decades.

“We have not been equipped or supported in our hospitals to deal with a Covid outbreak, even 18 months since it started,” he said.

“It’s an absolute joke, because that’s their reaction to a crisis and they’re not dealing with the root cause of the problem.

“They do not listen to people who work at the coalface, who are working for their communities, at the community’s heart and have the understanding of the community needs.”

He said a lack of doctors and nurses in rural areas will lead the rural system into “seriously troubled waters” and forecast that the ability to care for patients and deal with a service overload is “going to get bad – very, very bad”.

Dr Lian-Lloyd will retire in 12 months, due to the pressure of working 12-hour days and being on call all day and night, as much as his age.

Quorn GP, Dr Tony Lian-Lloyd. Photo Naomi Jellicoe

Wudinna’s retiring GP, Dr Scott Lewis.

Dr Lewis said rural doctors were not consulted over the release of the Local Health Network (LHN) Covid management plan and advised his LHN, the Eyre and Far North network, in July that he was considering leaving if conditions did not improve, and told a board member in October.

“I can no longer tolerate working in a system that has so little respect for its frontline medical and nursing staff,” Dr Lewis said.

His concerns were backed wholeheartedly by Dr Lian-Lloyd, who described Dr Lewis as “constitutionally tough” and was “not surprised” he decided to resign.

Eyre and Far North LHN chief executive Verity Paterson said the network was sad to see Dr Lewis go but respected his decision. She said the challenges of attracting and retaining doctors were well known.

“A new GP contract is currently being negotiated on our behalf by SA Health’s Rural Support Service, which works towards a co-ordinated and sustainable agreement that benefits the rural GP medical workforce,” Ms Paterson said.