South Coast Mothers Deserve Obstetric Certainty And Quality - Royal Australian College Of General Practitioners

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 23 Oct 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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The NSW&ACT Faculty of The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) today joined the call for certainty for pregnant women in the Bega and Pambula region regarding the provision of a quality of obstetric service.

"The Rural Maternity Services National Consensus Framework states quite clearly that women in rural Australia should have access to safe maternity care consistent with their assessed level of risk as close as possible to where they live," said RACGP NSW&ACT Faculty Chair, Dr Elizabeth Marles.

"The Framework also states that decisions about the development, sustainability, downgrading or closure of rural maternity services must be evidence-based, transparent, subject to an independent impact assessment and taken in consultation with the community.

"Rural women have the right to make informed choices about their care, according to this landmark national document, and health care professionals have a responsibility to provide the information to enable them to do this.

"Finally, the Framework states that rural maternity care workforce should be sustained and enhanced by targeted, coordinated strategies that support collaborative care by doctors and midwives, including access to facilities and professional development opportunities to enable them to maintain their maternity skills.

"The college believes that in the Pambula and Bega region at the moment, none of these principles is being adequately met. The highly publicised resignation of four Pambula GP Obstetricians highlights a systemic problem in the region that does not appear to hold the quality of maternity services available to women in the region as its highest priority.

"The loss of the procedural services of this number of rural GP Obstetricians in a region that is already short of doctors cannot be in anyone's interests," Dr Marles said.

Local RACGP NSW&ACT Faculty Board representative, Dr Ken Doust, said that women in the region need to be able to know that they will be able to access the very best quality of maternity care as close to home as possible.

"They need to know where they will be delivering their babies from the commencement of ante-natal care, and if there will be travel involved for them and their families; they need to be adequately supported to access the best level of care," Dr Doust said.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is responsible for maintaining standards for quality clinical practice, education and training, and research in Australian general practice. The RACGP has the largest general practitioner membership of any medical organisation in Australia and represents the majority of Australia's general practitioners. Visit http://www.racgp.org.au

Source
Melanie Fontolliet
Media/Communications Strategist
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

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