Workforce

Western Sydney offers many opportunities for those wishing to work in General Practice. The WentWest region covers the local government areas of Auburn, Parramatta, Holroyd and Blacktown. These areas are home to a highly diverse population, multicultural mix, economic status and physical and mental health needs. The region is one of workforce shortage and, while there is a large network of supportive GPs already working in General Practice, more are needed to join us in providing the best services possible.

Choose a section below to learn more:

• Innovation
• Practice Support
• General Practices Looking for Doctors
• General Practitioners Looking for Work
• Practice Nurses
• Practice Staff
• Links and Resources

Innovation

General Practitioners working in the WentWest region have the opportunity to work with other health providers on innovative programs aimed at improving health outcomes.

Health One

The region is home to two active HealthOne teams. GPs contribute to and are supported by multidisciplinary teams in HealthOne programs at Auburn and Mt Druitt.

What is HealthOne?

HealthOne virtually integrates care providers and services to achieve better health outcomes for its clients. The focus of Health One Mount Druitt is on children and young families at risk and people with chronic and complex conditions, while Auburn focuses on refugee populations and people with chronic and complex conditions.

A new way of working with patients

HealthOne involves the collaboration of General Practice and community health services and engages government, non-government and private care providers by facilitating communication and influencing multidisciplinary care planning across care providers and co-ordinating care for patients.

Potential clients are identified by GPs, community health, hospitals and GP Liaison Nurses, appropriately screened and then enrolled into HealthOne. Once the client is enrolled and GP identified, the GP Liaison Nurse supports the GP in the ongoing management by co-ordinating care for the client across appropriate care providers or services to continue care.

Benefits of HealthOne

HealthOne facilitates better communication, collaboration, and brings together care providers in multidisciplinary teams, to provide comprehensive, co-ordinated and continuity of care for patients. GPs receive support and ongoing feedback about their patient's progress in the community.

headspace

headspace is Australia's National Youth Mental Health Foundation, established in 2006 under the Federal Government's 'Promoting Mental Health - Youth Mental Health' initiative. The national mission is to deliver improvements in the mental health, social well-being and economic participation of young Australians, aged 12-25 years.

View more information on headspace.

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Practice Support

Practice Support Model

WentWest is the provider of divisional services across western Sydney from Auburn to Mt Druitt. We offer a comprehensive range of support services to General Practice ensuring that you and all your staff obtain the help you need. Underpinning this ambition is the practice support model. Six Area Services Co-ordinators are kept up-to-date on the latest information from Medicare, the Department of Health and Ageing, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and NSW Health, amongst others.

Your practice will have a dedicated Area Services Co-ordinator that will visit you a few times each year to offer help across a vast range of areas relating to General Practice. You are also more than welcome to contact your Area Services Co-ordinator at any time to request assistance.

We pride ourselves on the substantial contribution that we can make to your practice across a range of areas including:

• Accreditation
• Practice Management
• Chronic Disease Management
• Mental Health
• Immunisation
• Practice Nursing

Comprehensive Educational Services

The Practice Support Team also facilitates educational sessions for all members of the practice team. All education for GPs qualifies for RACGP QACPD points and all nurse training for CNE points.

Amongst many other sessions, GP education includes annual access to CPR training, Level One Mental Health Training, MD 3 Training and Category One Active Learning Modules. Sessions are available on weekday evenings, weekday lunch times and occasionally on weekends.

To find out what sessions are being held, click here.

Projects and Programs

WentWest also offers a range of practical support for those General Practices wishing to implement positive changes in their practice.

Practice Diagnosis

This process engages many data collection techniques to produce a comprehensive report across a range of indicators designed to help you target areas for improvement within your practice. The report will give you information on your patient population, Medicare Billings, staff suggestions and organisational issues.

All information is presented constructively to enable you to choose areas you wish to develop while understanding what is required to achieve change and the likely outcomes. The Practice Support Team will be available throughout the process to help you and your staff members achieve the changes identified.

Australian Primary Care Collaboratives

This program aims to facilitate General Practice to achieve improvement changes and share learning across three areas being: Diabetes Management, CHD Management and Patient Access and Care Redesign. Click here to find out more.

Quality Improvement Framework

The QIF helps GPs to better understand patient management across a range of diagnoses and treatment indicators. To find out more, click here.

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General Practices Looking for Doctors

WentWest will support you if finding GPs to fill your vacancies. WentWest maintains a register of practices looking for GPs and provides this to all GPs who enquire about positions. If you wish to be added to the register, complete the following Expression of Interest form and fax back to WentWest on (02) 9622 3448.

There are a number of options that practices in Western Sydney may be eligible to pursue when looking to hire another GP, which are outlined below.

Becoming a Registrar Training Facility

In addition to being the provider of divisional services, WentWest is also a Regional Training Provider for western Sydney. In this role, WentWest administers the three-year full-time AGPT course that includes the placement of Registrars in General Practices for durations of six months.

For more information on the Registrar Training Program, or how to become a Registered Training Practice, click here.

Employing an Overseas Trained Doctor

In order to employ an Overseas Trained Doctor, a practice must apply firstly for Area of Need Status. In addition, if the OTD requires to bill Medicare for services the practice must also obtain District of Workforce Shortage status.

It is suggested that practices consider the following issues before hiring and Overseas Trained Doctor (OTD):

• Most employers require Area of Need approval if they wish to employ an OTD. If you do not already have this, you can find out more about it under the Employing an OTD section;
• If the position requires the doctor to bill for Medicare, the position must be in a District of Workforce Shortage;
• Your OTD must obtain an appropriate visa;
• The OTD must obtain medical registration through the relevant State Medical Board. It is your responsibility to ensure that the applicant is likely to meet the requirements for registration and is suitable for the position;
• The OTD must obtain police clearances and health checks for immigration purposes (where relevant);
• You must obtain a Medicare provider number (for purposes other than billing) on behalf of the OTD when they have been approved;
• The OTD must meet the English language requirements of the Australian Medical Council;
• You are responsible for the orientation of and the ongoing support for the OTD;
• You must ensure that the OTD has appropriate medical indemnity cover to work in Australia.

The full checklist can be located here.

Additional information can be found on the DoHA website.

Area of Need Status

Area of Need is a program provided by the NSW Department of Health that aims to provide a short term solution to recruitment vacancies while efforts to appoint permanent medical staffs continue. An Area of Need is any location that lacks specific medical practitioners and vacancies that have been advertised over a period of time and remain unfilled.

Most OTDs are required to work in an Area of Need when first coming to Australia. It is the responsibility of the employer to apply for Area of Need Status prior to recruiting an OTD.

Information relating to the Area of Need Program can be found here. The application form can be located here.

Obtaining District of Workforce Shortage Status

Districts of Workforce Shortage are determined by the Australian Department of Health and Ageing. The criteria depends on the location of your practice and the access to health care within your immediate community. If you are successful in obtaining DWS status, your practice may then be eligible to hire an Overseas Trained Doctor (OTD) whose Medicare Provider Number will then be exempted from the restrictions within your location so enabling them to bill Medicare.

You can search the database of localities to determine whether your practice is in a District of Workforce Shortage Online by clicking here. Please note that your practice is still eligible to apply for DWS status even if you are not located in one of the specified areas. However, you will have to outline special circumstances on the DWS Preliminary Assessment.

If your practice is located in a District of Workforce Shortage and you have previously advertised your vacancy for a minimum of 4 weeks, then you may be eligible to apply for a DWS Preliminary Assessment. Information relating to the criteria can be found on Doctor Connect. The application form can be found here. If your application is successful, you may then be able to recruit and Overseas Trained Doctor to work in your practice.

Relocation Incentive Grant

The Relocation Incentive Grant is part of the 'More Doctors for Outer Metropolitan Areas' measure, which encourages doctors to work in places where there are medical workforce shortages.

Doctors who join an outer-metropolitan practice and work full-time for a minimum of two years, could qualify for a Relocation Incentive Grant of $30,000. The grant is paid directly to the doctor. Grants are available on a pro-rata basis for doctors who wish to work part-time (less than 30 hours per week).

To find out more about the Relocation Incentive Grant and to see if your practice qualifies, go to the following website. If you are eligible, the Relocation Incentive Grant may be something that you consider advertising to prospective candidates.

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General Practitioners Looking for Work

Practices Looking for Doctors

A number of vacancies for General Practitioners currently exist in Western Sydney. If you are interested in applying for a position, please feel free to contact any of the practices on the Practices Looking for Doctors Register.

Relocation Incentive Grant

The Relocation Incentive Grant is part of the 'More Doctors for Outer Metropolitan Areas' measure, which encourages doctors to work in places where there are medical workforce shortages.

Doctors who join an outer-metropolitan practice and work full-time for a minimum of two years could qualify for a Relocation Incentive Grant of $30,000. Grants are available on a pro-rata basis for doctors who wish to work part-time (less than 30 hours per week).

Doctors may be entitled to $40,000 if they set up their own outer-metropolitan practice and work full-time at their new approved location for at least three years. Grants are available on a pro-rata basis for those who want to work part-time (less than 30 hours per week).

Doctors who want to set up a group practice can apply for a grant, but must make concurrent, individual applications and specify that they are setting up the practice jointly. The grant amount payable to each doctor will depend on whether he or she intends to practice in the outer metropolitan area full-time or part-time.

Payment Structure

• 40% - Sign on
• 40% - Department verifies work has started
• 20% - Having worked in the location for one year

More information on the Relocation Incentive Grant can be found on the Department of Health and Ageing website.

Requirements to work in NSW

There are three main requirements for a doctor to be able to work as a General Practitioner in NSW as follows:

• Medical Registration
• Immigration
• Medical Provider Number

Overseas Trained Doctors (OTD)s may wish to review the comprehensive checklist for OTDs at: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/otd/publishing.nsf/Content/work-general-guide

Comprehensive information for all requirements for OTDs may also be found at: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/otd/publishing.nsf/Content/work-First-steps

Medical Registration Categories

There are a number of categories of registration that may be suitable for which GPs wishing to work in NSW may apply. Comprehensive information about categories, criteria and fees may be found on the NSW Medical Board Website.

Overseas Trained Doctors (OTD)s wishing to apply for registration must meet the pre-requisites of:

• English Language Proficiency
• Primary Source Verification of Documents
• Certificates of Registration Status/Certificates of Good Standing

Further information relating to pre-requisites may be found here.

There are a number of pathways to registration for an OTD that depend on their qualifications and where these were attained. Comprehensive information on options available for OTDs to become registered can be found at: http://www.nswmb.org.au/index.pl?page=177

Provider Number

The Medicare Provider Number is specific to the GP and location at which they are working. This allows doctors to refer and prescribe through the Medicare system, allowing patients to claim a rebate for services provided.

Certain restrictions may apply to your Medicare Provider Number when it is issued, for example, some doctors are required to work only in certain areas of Australia.

For more information on the Medicare Provider Number or to make an application, visit this website.

Registrar Pathway

In addition to being the provider of divisional services, WentWest is also a Regional Training Provider for Western Sydney. In this role WentWest administers the three-year full-time AGPT course that includes the placement of Registrars in General Practices for durations of six months.

For more information on the Registrar Training Program, or how to become a Registrar, please follow this link.

Area of Need

This is a NSW Department of Health Program that allows OTDs to obtain conditional medical registration to work in an Area of Need position while completing their chosen pathway to full registration.

More information relating to the Area of Need Program may be found at the NSW Medical Board website.

District of Workforce Shortage

Districts of Workforce Shortage are determined by the Australian Department of Health and Ageing. Criteria depends on the location of the practice that you wish to work in and the access to healthcare within that immediate community.

You may search the database of localities to determine which practices are in a District of Workforce Shortage Online at: http://www9.health.gov.au/otdw/dws_database/cf/index.cfm.

If a practice has DWS status, OTDs who work there will be exempted from the restriction on their Medicare Provider Number, so enabling you to claim Medicare rebates.

Practice Nurses

For information on Practice Nurse recruitment, please see the Practice Nursing section of the WentWest website.

Practice Staff

For information on Practice Staff recruitment, please see the Practice Nursing section of the WentWest website.

Links and Resources

• Doctor Connect
• NSW Department of Health
• Department of Health and Ageing
• NSW Medical Board
• Medicare Australia

Latest News

Western Sydney Medicare Local progress update, click here to read