Doctors 'under-used' in Australia's remote north
Updated
A doctor says he is leaving the Northern Territory's biggest Aboriginal community because Health Department practices are stopping him from doing his job.
While most remote area doctors are overworked, the doctor says he has been under-used.
Doctor Pat Rebgetz moved to Wadeye three years ago.
He is leaving because archaic Northern Territory Health Department guidelines are encouraging nurses to treat seriously ill patients instead of referring them to a doctor.
"I don't get to see patients with illnesses that I think it would be appropriate for them anywhere else in Australia for them to see a doctor," he said.
The Australian Medical Association's Peter Beaumont thinks the problems are not widspread, but Wadeye patients could be at risk.
"It's incumbant on the Northern Territory Health Department to really look into the teamwork in this area," he said.
The department has yet to responded.
