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Healthcare in a rural setting

January 2005
Board of Science

Recommendations
Recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals
1. A broad range of strategies should be implemented to promote medicine to potential students from a rural background and encourage them to apply to medical school. [go to reference 39]

2. It is desirable that all medical students have the opportunity to choose a rural placement. The opportunity should be seen as a positive contribution to a student’s medical development. Placing students in a rural area could promote working in a rural area as a positive career choice.

3. Postgraduate training programmes should use the opportunities provided in rural primary and secondary care to teach generalist skills to healthcare professionals (including surgeons) during their basic training.

4. Continuing professional development should be flexible and responsive to the range of needs found in rural/remote medical practice and tailored to the educational needs identified by the individual. [go to reference 58]

5. Workforce planning must consider CPD training needs. A wide range of CPD opportunities should be developed so that staff from various types of rural practice have access to training.

6. Schemes to support healthcare professionals and their families within the community are vital as an aid to retention.

7. An infrastructure for out-of-hours care needs to be put in place in rural areas.

8. The provision of flexible employment opportunities is particularly important in rural areas to aid recruitment and retention.

Accessibility and the impact of distance
9. Improved coordination and planning of transport schemes is needed at local and regional level. Transport considerations should be integrated into any health service planning for rural/remote communities.

10. Local, innovative healthcare services must be provided to allow patients to reach those services and have a choice in the facilities that they use.

11. The use of telemedicine should be encouraged. It gives increased flexibility to healthcare service providers and allows them to expand the scope and quality of services.

12. There is a need to assess and review options for sustaining and improving local access to secondary healthcare due to the pressures on acute and emergency service delivery in rural/remote areas.

13. A range of healthcare services are required to meet the needs of people with disabilities, for example mobile services and voluntary services provided by trained local community members.

Sustainability of services
14. Doctors should carry out part of their training in association with other healthcare professionals to create respect and trust between team members, and to allow professionals to work across boundaries of traditionally defined roles. [go to reference 113]

15. Patients in rural and isolated areas need to have access to expert patients self-management courses in their local area.