Four more senior Sydney doctors have answered Albury Wodonga Health's "call to arms" to supervise its Albury emergency department while a ban on Melbourne locums continues.
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The critical workforce shortage in senior doctors that threatened the border's intensive care unit and major ED has been abated for the short-term.
AWH clinical director of emergency David Clancy said from the end of last week, he was contacted by directors of departments in Sydney.
"That has resulted in a flow of emergency consultants and specialists that will be coming to the border over the next few weeks and working in the Albury Base Hospital ... with a lot of appreciation," he said.
"It's important to recognise what our own staff have done, going above and beyond to make sure we can provide the service to this district.
"It's been their efforts that have maintained our service over the last few weeks.
"They are really pushing themselves ... some of them you have to pull back, and preserve them from themselves.
"We have to make sure they're catered for and looked after, and giving them breaks.
"That's what's going to be important in the next few weeks, if we can maintain supply.
"This is not a short-term thing, this is not a sprint, this is a marathon."
Dr Clancy said a senior doctor from St George Hospital working the wards had been a "welcome reprieve this week".
"They have seen first-hand how hard it is in regional emergency departments, particularly at Albury Base, to work in this environment," he said.
"We will look in a fortnight's time to have several more."
Dr Clancy believed a "large part" of NSW Health's ban on Melbourne locums was the rate of infections in healthcare workers in the city.
There have been 3241 COVID-19 cases in healthcare workers in Victoria, with 35 new cases reported on Thursday.
Dr Clancy said he had not heard within medical networks what NSW Health considered the trigger point in falling Victorian cases to lift the ban.
"We did have doctors from Queensland and from Sydney - with [fewer] flights and border closures, and then with Melbourne not being able to send doctors, that's when we really hit a crisis point," Dr Clancy said.
"I think one of the big things clinicians in Victoria and NSW have been advocating for is clarity when it comes to healthcare worker infections.
"We need to see the data, we need to see what the causes are - what are the actual pressure points causing such an outbreak in healthcare worker infections.
"I think that has started to come to fruition in the last two weeks, but there's still more clarity we need to seek so we can understand the issue.
"We're in constant dialogue with the health department to discuss the issue at hand."
AWH chief executive Michael Kalimnios said the senior locums who had put their hands up equated to a month's reprieve, and was supported by a range of other staff such as registrars and nurse practitioners who had made themselves available.
The expanded 50-km border zone also makes it easier for AWH staff, with the need to fill those senior, supervising roles being more of an issue.
"It will mean we won't have to enter into what has been quite a laborious process to get exemptions for people," he said.
"There will be same staff that will be outside of that region. My understanding from NSW Health is there will be a streamlined process ... so we can get exemptions.
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"We continue to talk to NSW health about some sort of exemption process for people in Melbourne.
"The freedom of movement of staff across Australia has always been a given in healthcare ... regional services rely significantly on being able to access all sorts of specialist staff from all over Australia."
Mr Kalimnios has also put forward "longer-term models" to NSW Health and the NSW Premier and Deputy Premier.
"As I understand it, that's been taken on board and being developed," he said.
"Hopefully over time, that will create a more sustainable workforce.
"All that's positive ... but it's a watching brief, we need to be very vigilant about this, until we're able to again access doctors from Melbourne."