Victoria’s regional hospitals have to resort to ‘creative tactics’ to lure specialists from Melbourne

An inflated pay offer at a Victorian hospital has left doctors in shock and raised concerns it is a “gross mismanagement” of taxpayer funds.

A Victorian hospital is being forced to offer anaesthetists an incredible $10,000 a day, which health insiders say proves the system is “totally broken”.

Latrobe Regional Health this month sent an email to at least two dozen specialists across Victoria promising to pay locums $7000 to $10,000 to fill shifts to keep its surgery program operating.

The specialists – who are critical to performing planned and emergency surgeries – are in huge demand in Victoria.

Typically, anaesthetists earn $2500 to $3000 a day.

Specialists have been offered $10,000 a day to keep the surgery program operating. Picture: iStock

The email was accompanied by a roster showing dates to be filled. It included the names of some doctors who had already taken up the offer.

The inflated pay offer has shocked some doctors, one telling the Herald Sun it was a “gross mismanagement” of taxpayer funds.

Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said the system was in crisis and that the wages would astound everyday workers.

“These payments are excessive at a time when Victoria is broke and other medical practitioners are being paid significantly less for doing the same work in other health services across Victoria,” she said.

“The Allan Labor government must apply proper scrutiny over how taxpayer money is spent and stop the waste and mismanagement which all Victorians ultimately pay for through higher taxes and reduced services.”

But Health Department ­insiders said Victoria’s regional hospitals were struggling and increasingly having to resort to “creative tactics” to lure specialists from Melbourne.

The state government’s $1.5bn elective surgery blitz, announced to clear the backlogs created during the pandemic, had driven up demand for specialists in Melbourne, making it even harder for regional outfits to recruit.

The state government’s $1.5bn elective surgery blitz has driven up demand for specialists in Melbourne. Picture: iStock

“You have all these doctors being paid more in public and private hospitals in the city for these surgeries so the government can clear this backlog,” one source said.

“It’s tying up all the staff. Why go to the regions if you can earn all this money in the middle of Melbourne?”

Asked about the pay offers, Latrobe Regional Health chief executive Don McRae said the hospital was focused on recruitment and working closely with Alfred Health in anticipation of a surgery unit expansion in March.

“The partnership will work to develop a comprehensive surgical program with a sustainable staffing model,” he said.

“This initiative is part of a wider recruitment strategy at LRH aimed at attracting full-time medical, nursing and ­allied health staff to Gippsland.

“I am pleased we have had some success with our recruitment efforts to date.”

An Alfred spokesman said: “We are at the early phase of providing Latrobe Regional Health’s surgical program with expertise, clinical governance, training and staffing in anaesthesiology and perioperative medicine.”

It has also been claimed that Alfred doctors have worked with their regional partner while on annual leave, picking up extra pay for those shifts, but the city health service did not address that alleged issue.

The revelation that specialists are being paid above industry rates comes as Treasurer Tim Pallas upped his attack on the federal government on health funding cuts.

In a letter obtained by the Herald Sun, Mr Pallas last week questioned the federal health minister over a plan to cut contributions to states and territories from $13.2bn to $11bn over the next five years.

A state government spokesman would not comment on the $10,000 pay offer, but said: “Every Victorian deserves to be able to receive care and treatment they need, no matter where they live.”

He added: “Despite staff demands, we have seen all category one patients continue to receive surgery within the recommended 30 days and wait times are improving for all other surgical patients”.