The deploying of locum doctors during peak operating hours in major health facilities around Fiji is well in progress, with a total of 37 locum appointments made in less than two months.
This follows the strengthened partnership between the Ministry of Health and Medical Services and the Fiji College of General Practitioners.
Locum arrangement is one of the key strategies undertaken by the Ministry to reduce patients waiting time.
Based on the current arrangements, the General Practitioners are paid a rate of $50 while specialists are paid $80.
In total there are 27 General Practitioners and 10 specialists appointed to date.
The Ministry has also received expressions of interests by GP’s to work at Ba Mission Hospital.
Health and Medical Services Minister Rosy Akbar is encouraging more GP’s to come on board as the rate are quite lucrative and the public health service needs their services.
Some of the positive impacts reported by the major hospitals indicate an improvement in the health services, reduced workload for doctors and reduced waiting time for patients.
