The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Specialist obstetrician Locum Scheme

Welcome to the Specialist Obstetrician Locum Scheme

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

CHANGES TO SOLS ELIGIBILITY

As of 1 July 2010, SOLS will be using the new Australian Standard Geographical Classification - Remoteness Area (ASGC-RA) to define SOLS eligibility. ASGC-RA will replace the current RRMA classification and SOLS Applicants must be located in ASGC-RA 2-5.

Find out your ASGC-RA Classification.

Introduction

Welcome to the Specialist Obstetrician Locum Scheme (SOLS) website. SOLS is a workforce support program designed to supply affordable, quality locum relief to rural specialist and GP obstetricians. The program is funded by the Australian Government.

The future of SOLS was assured in May 2008 when the Federal Treasurer announced the Budget; SOLS was allocated $5.9 million over three years. Thus providing support for rural obstetricians in the near future. Included in the ongoing funding is the development of a locum scheme for GP Obstetricians and GP Anaesthetists.

In September 2009, SOLS signed a contract with The Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) for $3 million, over two years. Targets for the current contract (September 2009 - June 2011) include 195 specialist obstetrician locum placements and 55 GP obstetrician placements.

The SOLS Secretariat continues to develop and implement the GP obstetrician scheme in conjunction with the existing SOLS program. GP Locums must hold a RANZCOG qualification (DRANZCOG or DRANZCOG Advanced), however the applicant receiving the locum is not required to have a RANZCOG qualification, but must be credentialed to practice GP obstetrics in Australia.

SOLS has continued to build on the early success of the SOLS pilot project. Key features of the program include:

Locum Placements
A SOLS locum placement varies greatly in its location, duration and reasons. SOLS has been used to enable Applicants to take some annual leave and to undertake professional development.

Specialist Locums
There are currently 85 Fellows registered as potential locums. It is pleasing to see that so many Fellows are willing to support their rural colleagues. However SOLS needs more locums with private medical indemnity insurance. On several occasions SOLS has been unable to fill locum requests due to a lack of private indemnity insurance.

GP Locums

It is encouraging that there are currently 25 GP Obstetricians registered to provide locum support. SOLS is still however seeking to increase the locum pool of GP Obstetricians.

Aims
The aim of the SOLS workforce support program is to maintain and improve the access of rural women to quality local obstetric care by providing the rural specialist obstetrician workforce with efficient and cost-effective locum support.
The workforce support program also aims to sustain safety and quality in rural practice by facilitating access to personal leave or professional development or breaks from on-call commitments for rural obstetricians.

Background
There is a critical shortage of obstetricians in rural and remote Australia . Despite the fact that nearly one third (30%) of all babies born in Australia are born in rural and remote locations, only 16% of the 1160 practising obstetricians reside and practice in rural Australia (AMWAC Report, 2004.20). In addition, the current rural specialist obstetrician workforce is ageing, with a median age of 56 years. (Robson, Bland, Bunting 2005). This means that half of the obstetricians now practising in rural areas may have retired within five years and it is unlikely that the subsequent vacancies will be filled with young recruits.
The impact of a diminishing workforce on those who remain is extremely serious and will exacerbate an already critical situation. The inability of rural specialist obstetricians to undertake personal and professional development leave underlines the vulnerability of current service provision and the very real disadvantage faced by rural women in need of obstetric services.
A scheme that would supply affordable, quality locum relief to obstetricians so they can undertake personal leave or professional development will contribute substantially to both workforce retention and the continued provision of high quality specialist care for rural women.
The SOLS workforce support program follows a highly successful scoping study undertaken in 2005 by Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) in conjunction with RANZCOG and the Australian Rural and Remote Workforce Agencies Group (ARRWAG, represented by the NSW Rural Doctors Network). The scoping study, which was also funded by the Australian Government, found there is a definite need to assist rural specialist obstetricians in obtaining affordable locum cover, to enable them to take much-needed study and recreation leave.

Management
The SOLS workforce support program is jointly managed by a tripartite Management Group consisting of representatives from RANZCOG, RDAA and NSW RDN. There is also an Advisory Committee consisting of representatives from key stakeholder groups to provide external guidance.