General Practitioner – Bidyadanga

NACCHO; Bidyadanga; Hybrid; AUD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services (KAMS) in the Kimberley region of Western Australia seeks a dedicated General Practitioner to deliver comprehensive primary health care in Bidyadanga as part of the regular GP roster.

You will provide emergency assessment, stabilisation and after-hours on-call support, work with a multidisciplinary team, and contribute to quality improvement and Aboriginal health priorities.

Qualifications

• Eligible for registration in WA
• Minimum of 5 years general practice / primary health care experience
• Commitment to Aboriginal Community Control
• Competent to manage emergencies in remote setting
• Ability to travel by air and/or road on a regular basis
• FRACGP, FACRRM or equivalent

Responsibilities

• Provide clinical primary health care services to Bidyadanga as part of the regular GP roster.
• Provide emergency assessment, stabilisation and care during hours, and rostered on-call support after-hours.
• Support active use of MMEX for prompted opportunistic care and population health screening.
• Maintain cultural safety in all clinical practice and coordinate with the Royal Flying Doctor Service for evacuations.
• Work with staff to optimise Medicare income for reinvestment in sustainable clinical services.
• Maintain linkages with other health providers for optimum coordination of care.

Job description

• Contact email: [e-mail]
• Contact phone: [phone]

Full time

Reports to: Senior Medical Officer, KAMS

Supervision of:

Award: Non-Award

Classification:

About Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services:

KAMS (Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services Ltd) is a regional Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHS), providing a collective voice and support for a network of member ACCHS from towns and remote communities across the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

KAMS was first established in 1986 as a cooperative between the Broome Regional Aboriginal Medical Service (BRAMS) and the East Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Service (EKAMS) now the Ord Valley Aboriginal Health Service (OVAHS) with membership expanding to Halls Creek health service committee and Fitzroy Crossing community representatives. These communities saw the benefit of sharing pooled resources and collective effort in the region

KAMS provides a wide range of services including: Financial and accounting; Regional population health programs; Social and Emotional Well Being Support; Health Promotion; Information Communication Technology Support; Corporate Services; Accredited health training and education and Research.

While the major role is in regional advocacy and support for member services, KAMS also provides comprehensive primary health care services in the remote communities of Beagle Bay, Bidyadanga, Balgo, Mulan and Billiluna. In 2014 KAMS established Kimberley Renal Services Pty Ltd to manage the provision of regional renal support and dialysis services in Broome, Derby, Kununurra and Fitzroy Crossing.

KAMS is a member of the Aboriginal Health Council of WA (AHCWA – www.ahcwa.org ) and of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO – www.naccho.org.au ).

Our vision is to:

Improve the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal people in the Kimberley.

We will achieve this vision by:

• Supporting our member services to be strong, independent and effective ACCHO’s
• Ensuring we provide quality preventative and primary healthcare services to communities we service
• Providing leadership and advocacy on Kimberley Aboriginal health issues
• Ensuring we are an effective, accountable and sustainable organisation
• Building a skilled and sustainable Kimberley Aboriginal health workforce

Our mission is to ensure:

We are managed and controlled by Kimberley Aboriginal people, are locally and nationally recognised as an effective advocate for the Kimberley Aboriginal health sector and provide and support the provision of effective holistic and culturally appropriate primary health care services for Kimberley Aboriginal people.

We define Aboriginal Health as:

Not just the physical wellbeing of an individual, but the social, emotional and cultural wellbeing of the whole community in which each individual is able to achieve their full potential as a human being, thereby bringing about the total wellbeing of their community. It is a whole of life view and includes the cyclical concept of life-death-life.

Staff may not smoke while in uniform or when they are acting in an official capacity off site. Smoking is prohibited in and around all buildings, vehicles and grounds.

• To provide comprehensive primary health care in Bidyadanga Community in line with accepted best practice standards.
• In conjunction with the multidisciplinary team, assist in the development and maintenance of high quality health services, ensuring continuous monitoring, quality improvement and innovation in the delivery of comprehensive primary health services
• Support the education, training and on-site up-skilling of the Bidyadanga primary health care workforce
• Contribute to KAMS health program initiatives in line with identified needs

Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services is a smoke-free organisation and smoking is prohibited in and around all buildings, vehicles and grounds.

Relationships

Internal

• Remote Clinic Staff and Managers
• Other KAMS and KRS GPs and GPRs
• Health Informatics team
• Population Health Team

External

• Community Council and CEO
• WACHS including visiting specialists, Kimberley Population Health Unit (KPHU); Kimberley Mental Health and Drug Service
• Royal Flying Doctor Service
• Any other external agencies supplying support to the community

Duty Statement and Key Responsibilities:

Clinical practice

Provide clinical primary health care services to Bidyadanga as part of the regular GP roster. On occasion to fulfil any rostering shortage, you may be required to provide clinical services in Beagle Bay and other KAMS clinic sites.

Provide emergency assessment, stabilisation and care during hours, and rostered on-call support after-hours. Where required, liaise closely with the Royal Flying Doctor Service for timely evacuation of clients requiring hospitalisation and /or more advanced care.

Support active use of the electronic patient information and recall system MMEX to assist in the provision of prompted opportunistic care for all clients, ensuring widespread population screening, early detection, monitoring and appropriate management of chronic disease.

Throughout your clinical practice, work with colleagues and clients in a framework of cultural safety which respects local cultural beliefs and practices.

Work with other staff to optimise Medicare income for reinvestment in sustainable clinical services.

Maintain strong linkages with other health providers in the area to ensure optimum coordination of care and advocacy for the client base.

Quality assurance / improvement

Ensure that clinical care is in line with regional best practice standards

Ensure a commitment to the uptake of Kimberley Chronic Disease Therapeutic protocols, Kimberley Maternal and Child Health protocols, Kimberley Standard Drug list, and other endorsed tools for regional best practice

As a member of the multidisciplinary team, contribute to regular quality assurance and quality improvement initiatives of the health service

Participate in the KAMS Clinical Incident Management Process

Education / up-skilling of the health workforce

• Participate in the implementation of in-services for health staff, with frequency and content determined in conjunction with senior managers and based on current staff skills and needs
• Provide supervision for GP Registrars (GPRs), Resident Medical Officers (RMOs) and medical students
• Participate in providing support to GP Registrars doing the on-call roster as part of on-call support roster
• Participate in the provision of support and education for Aboriginal Health Workers/Practitioners and nursing students during placements, with direction from identified preceptors and senior management team

Contribute to KAMS health program initiatives in line with identified need and personal interest / career development

• Participate in regional and local KAMS health initiatives – such as health research, regional best practice guidelines, other areas of clinical governance, health information and IT development, medical education and training, etc – contributing your own expertise to such projects as well as taking up the opportunity to develop in areas of particular personal and career interest.

Clinical Leadership

• Monitor pathology results for the clinic and ensure all are being actioned and those not belonging to the clinic are forwarded or returned as appropriate
• Ensure that clinics and remote office are informed of students visiting the clinic
• Coordinate the updating of GP clinic roster
• Chair and arrange (or assist) regular team meetings
• Ensure correspondence from visiting specialists is actioned and results followed up
• As part of the Senior GP team, be the clinic doctor contact for outside services
• Prepare a clinic update for the regular doctor meeting
• Work closely with the clinic manager to ensure patient flow and other systems operate effectively. Also to work with any nominated community representative as part of the Bidyadanga clinic management team
• Be the doctor contact for clinical issues and incidents in the clinic

Orientate new medical staff to the clinic and its systems for operating Please note that the duties outlined in this position description are not exhaustive, and only an indication of the work of the role. The organisation can direct you to carry out duties which it considers are within your level of skill, competence and training and scope of practice

Selection Criteria:

Demonstrated expertise in the following areas:

• Eligible for registration in WA
• Minimum of 5 years general practice / primary health care experience
• Commitment to the philosophy and practice of Aboriginal Community Control
• Competent to manage emergencies in remote setting
• Ability to act as an effective member of a multidisciplinary health team
• Ability to travel by air and/ or road on a regular basis
• Ability to maintain confidentiality at all levels
• Effective interpersonal, oral and written communication skills
• Sound knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal culture
• Proven ability to communicate and work effectively with Aboriginal people
• Working with Children Check
• Current GP Supervisor accreditation (or eligible to undergo training for this)
• FRACGP, FACRRM or equivalent
• Previous experience in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health sector