Specialist adult physicians in the Top End of the Northern Territory:An analysis of their number and roles

Abstract

The optimal way of delivering specialist services to rural and remote Australia, andparticularly to remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, is a matterof keen debate at present, and is being considered by the Australian Medical WorkforceAdvisory Committee. This paper contributes to that debate by considering onespecialist medical group, namely adult physicians, and discusses both their role andoptimal number in the Top End of the Northern Territory, in light of the generalworkforce literature and recent changes to the organisation of physician services inthe Northern Territory. Models of specialist service delivery need to be explicit, andorganisational methods transparent, if the service is to be equitable, flexible andaccountable to primary care practitioners.