Rural Doctor Phone Move Good for Patients

"This issue came to a head in October last year when a number of rural doctors advised the AMA of unacceptable delays in having their landlines repaired," Dr Rivett said.

"Being able to contact the local doctor in the event of an emergency can mean the difference between life and death for people who live in rural and remote areas.

"Mobile coverage is patchy or non-existent in many areas of Australia, making a functioning landline an essential tool for doctors such as surgeons on call, GPs who provide services to the local hospital, and GPs who are the only doctor in town."

The AMA has for some months lobbied Telstra chief executive Sol Trujillo and other senior Telstra executives to speed up phone repairs for doctors who provide essential emergency medical services in rural and remote areas.

"When the AMA met with key Telstra representatives to discuss the shortcomings of Telstra's existing repair policies, they acknowledged that they could do more to ensure that doctors in rural areas are able to get their phones repaired as quickly as possible," Dr Rivett said.

With advice from the AMA, Telstra has expanded its Community, Essential and Emergency Services Policy to include emergency phone repairs for:

Doctor surgeries in rural towns where access to emergency medical care is limited (eg. No access to a hospital emergency department)

• Rural doctors who provide key medical services which may be required at short notice, such as obstetricians and anaesthetists
• Rural doctors who provide on-call services to the local hospital
• Rural doctors who participate in an on-call roster with other GPs in their town
• Rural doctors who perform a critical response role in emergency situations

"The AMA urges other phone companies to take similar steps as soon as possible," Dr Rivett said.