Christine Webster, Murray Pioneer

The Australia-wide problem of being unable to attract enough doctors to rural areas is impacting heavily on the Waikerie Medical Centre and local community.

Waikerie GP and one of the partners at the medical centre, Dr Ken Wanguhu, told The Murray Pioneer that medical resources were tightly stretched in the town.

He said attracting and keeping doctors was often difficult due to the requirement of being on call at least once a week to cater for the 24/7 emergency department at the Waikerie hospital.

Dr Wanguhu said this often deterred doctors including former registrars who had undergone their training in Waikerie from pursuing their careers in the town.

The Waikerie Medical Centre presently only has five doctors to service patients at the medical centre and the Waikerie Hospital.

“Two of these doctors (are) still in training, and (need) to be supervised by one of the three GPs who were partners in the medical centre,” Dr Wanguhu said.

He said although five doctors were based at Waikerie, due to part-time working and training arrangements, they were only the equivalent of 3.5 full time staff.

“Every day, a doctor has to be on call at the Waikerie hospital and every day, a doctor has to see patients at the hospital,” he said.

Dr Wanguhu also works one day a week at the Riverland General Hospital, at Berri, in anaesthetics and obstetrics.

He said attempts were being made to recruit more doctors to the Waikerie practice and two potential candidates were in the pipeline.

But Dr Wanguhu said young doctors often preferred to take up posts at medical centres in Barmera, Berri and Renmark where they were not required to work in an emergency hospital.

He said these three towns were catered for by the Riverland Regional Hospital, but in Loxton and Waikerie the situation was different.

“Ideally Waikerie (needs) at least 10 doctors,” Dr Wanguhu said.

“We have advertised for doctors and interviewed a lot of doctors.

“We are desperate to attract more to work in Waikerie.

“It generally takes about six to 12 months to recruit a doctor.”

Dr Wanguhu said more resources were also needed to address the medical needs of people who had moved to the area to live at the Waikerie Lifestyle Village.

“We have also had an increase in population.”

Dr Wanguhu said he and partners at the Waikerie Medical Centre are hoping the Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network will assist them in providing a doctor over the weekends to help with the demands of the Waikerie hospital.

“We have consulted them and for non-urgent cases after hours we have also suggested that a doctor from Berri could possibly be available for video consultations after hours,” he said.

The Waikerie Medical Centre has also been working closely with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners in an attempt to attract doctors to Waikerie.

He said in Kimba, on the Eyre Peninsula, the local council had helped attract a GP to the town by assisting in providing financial support and accommodation as an incentive.

Dr Wanguhu said any support that Loxton Waikerie council could provide would be welcome.

“The shortage of doctors is placing pressure on staff at the Waikerie Medical Centre,” Dr Wanguhu said.

Dr Wanguhu said the practice was fortunate to have a nurse practitioner to assist with some of the workload.

He also appealed to the community to be understanding of the situation and expressed concern about some of the criticism he and his staff have faced by some community members on social media.

“Our doctors are getting really affected and really hurt,” he said.

Dr Wanguhu said due to patient confidentiality doctors were unable to defend themselves and respond to these attacks on social media, and sometimes in public settings.

He said the Waikerie Medical Centre’s practice manager was available to assist with any patients’ concerns.

“I know people may be desperate, but insulting our doctors, our nurses, (and) our staff in the street is just wrong,” Dr Wanguhu said.

Council eager to help recruit doctors

Loxton Waikerie Mayor Trevor Norton says the council is always open to discussion with the district’s medical fraternity on ways to help bring more doctors to the area.

Waikerie GP Ken Wanguhu told The Murray Pioneer the Waikerie Medical Centre is desperately trying to recruit more doctors.

He said at Kimba, on the Eyre Peninsula, the local council assisted in the recruitment of a GP by providing financial support and accommodation.

Mr Norton said “the District Council of Loxton Waikerie was currently involved in a partnership with Cornerstone Housing Ltd to build accommodation for essential workers in the district”.

He said council would be willing to identify ways to further assist with the doctors’ shortage.

“In recent times, the council has advocated for support for the Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network – Riverland Academy of Clinical Excellence (RACE) program, which brings junior doctors to the region,” Mr Norton said.

This article appeared in Murray Pioneer, 26 February 2025.