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Objective: The primary aim is to explore rural clinicians' self‐reported knowledge, skills and attitudes in the decision‐making process for requesting aeromedical retrieval of patients with suspected appendicitis. A secondary aim is to understand the supports and barriers of rural clinicians experience in this clinical scenario. Setting: Clinician interviews conducted face‐to‐face in three rural hospitals in Central Queensland. Participants: Rural doctors and nurses. Design: A five‐part qualitative content analysis. Results: The majority of 44 participants identified the strong and effective teamwork. The decision to request aeromedical retrieval was a shared, joint process and identified a supportive collegial culture which supported the asking of questions and not expecting to have all the answers. Perceived barriers were lack of receiving clinicians understanding of transfer agreements, and data connectivity. Clinician pessimism was identified for perceived patient outcomes. Discussion Effective teamwork can nurture trust and collaboration across multiple health service roles. High job satisfaction may counter the physical isolation in some rural environments. Fragmentation of care is the unintended consequence of interhospital transfer and may impact rural clinicians' perception of patients' outcomes and hinder receiving clinicians' understanding of rural service limitations. Conclusion: Future work in the area of linked electronic medical records could remove a barrier for rural clinicians and improve their reflective practice by challenging their perception of definitive patient outcomes. Increased awareness by receiving clinicians of the limitation of rural services, may minimize communication barriers and thereby, improve timely patient care transfers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the factors impacting the experiences of James Cook University medical students on solo placements in remote towns. Design: This 2018 pilot study used an exploratory sequential mixed‐methods approach to explore the recent solo remote placement experiences of James Cook University medical students. Qualitative interviews were performed initially to elicit context sensitive themes for the self administered survey. The survey went on to use Likert‐scale questions in addition to pre‐validated survey instruments. Setting: Focus groups and interviews took place at James Cook University Medical School in Townsville in late 2018 after students returned from their rural rotation. Two telephone interviews were conducted for Year 6 students unable to attend the focus groups. Participants: James Cook University medical students in years 2, 4 and 6 students who experienced a solo placement in a remote (MMM 6 or 7) town during 2017 or 2018 were invited to be part of the study. Only Townsville‐based students were involved. A total of 14 students participated in the focus groups (n = 14) and a further 31 students completed the survey (n = 31). Main outcome measure(s): Interviews identified themes negatively or positively impacting solo remote placement experience, while bivariate analysis identified factors associated with having an 'excellent' overall experience. Results: Student interviews identified five main themes impacting student experience in remote communities: culture of the medical facility; quality and quantity of clinical experiences; quality of accommodation; placement length; and community infrastructure and services. Negative impacts could result in students experiencing social isolation. Students reporting an 'excellent' solo remote placement experience in the survey were more likely to have: felt very welcome in the community; felt the health staff supported them; heavily involved themselves in clinical activities; enjoyed the experiences remote communities can offer; positive rural career intentions; reported they 'bounce back during and after life's most stressful events'; and come from a rural or remote hometown. Conclusions: Solo remote placements provide medical students with opportunities to further knowledge, clinical capabilities, social experiences and careers, but can have negative aspects. However, negative aspects are often modifiable management issues or can potentially be avoided if prospective students are better informed of the challenges associated with remote communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creating a stable and sustainable health workforce in regional, rural and remote Australia has long been a challenge to health workforce planners, policy makers and researchers alike. Traditional health workforce planning is often reactive and assumes continuation of current patterns of healthcare utilisation. This demonstration project in Far North Queensland exemplifies how participatory regional health workforce planning processes can accurately model current and projected local workforce requirements. The recent establishment of Primary Health Networks (PHNs) with the intent to commission health services tailored to individual healthcare needs underlines the relevance of such an approach. This study used action research methodology informed by World Health Organization (WHO) systems thinking. Four cyclical stages of health workforce planning were followed: needs assessment; health service model redesign; skills-set assessment and workforce redesign; and development of a workforce and training plan. This study demonstrated that needs-based loco-regional health workforce planning can be achieved successfully through participatory processes with stakeholders. Stronger health systems and workforce training solutions were delivered by facilitating linkages and planning processes based on community need involving healthcare professionals across all disciplines and sectors. By focusing upon extending competencies and skills sets, local health professionals form a stable and sustainable local workforce. Concrete examples of initiatives generated from this process include developing a chronic disease inter-professional teaching clinic in a rural town and renal dialysis being delivered locally to an Aboriginal community. The growing trend of policy makers decentralising health funding, planning and accountability and rising health system costs increase the future utility of this approach. This type of planning can also assist the new PHNs to commission health services that meet the needs of the population and contribute to service and system improvement and innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the study on the use and acceptability of the Edmonton Frail Scale (EFS) in a primary care practice located in a rural area in North Queensland, Australia. The study was reportedly a collaboration between university-based researchers and the clinic's staff. The results revealed that EFS is acceptable in private general practice as it is quick and easy to administer.