Tim Shackleton will lead Rural Health West into a new era.
WA is a big state, but it’s not overstating it to say Tim Shackleton knows just about every square kilometre of it. The new CEO of Rural Health West has lived and worked in our rural and remote areas all his life and it’s this intimacy with the bush that will be put to good use in his new role.
Mr Tim Shackleton
Tim was raised in Katanning before heading to UWA in the mid-1980s to study for a human movement degree. A solid nine years at the Asthma Foundation (three years as Executive Director) introduced him to health management which has seen him take up myriad opportunities since.
Tim is perhaps best known for his management of the RFDS between 2006 and 2011 where, as CEO, he led a team that expanded the reach and viability of the service and embedded it as a vital part of the Western Australian health landscape. But his first contact with the operation was in 1996 when he headed to the Kalgoorlie branch, accompanied by wife Catherine and babe-in-arms.
After three years with RFDS, the couple embarked on a decade-long adventure across the state that led them first to Meekatharra, then Port Hedland, where Tim became Pilbara-Gascoyne regional director for the newly founded WACHS, and then to the same position in the Wheatbelt.
“This was such a formative decade for my life and the lives of my wife, Catherine, and our four children. The people we met and the things we were able to do were amazing,” Tim said.
For the past five years, he has been at the helm of his own consultancy, working with health organisations in the rural and remote space. The business is being mothballed so he can devote his energies to Rural Health West.
“As a consultant I was able to immerse myself in issues, which CEOs and boards can find hard to do due to time constraints. I learnt more about the health system in the past five years than I had during the previous 10 years.”
“I had first-hand experience of the complexities of GP recruitment – how to attract, retain, train and support doctors in often difficult situations. These are complex issues that take a lot of effort to get right.”
“Being on the board of WAGPET for the past three years and acting chair for several months opened my eyes to just how essential a good GP is to the health and livelihood of a rural/remote community. It’s been emblazoned on my brain.”
Filling the Rural Health West seat vacated by the retiring Belinda Bailey was a natural step.
“I was attracted to it because of its commitment through sound health workforce strategies to improve the health and sustainability of disadvantaged rural and remote communities.”
While the future rural workforce will be bolstered by the increased number of medical graduates, Tim said there was still a current shortfall of between 90 and 95 doctors in the bush. Small communities that rely on solo GPs are often the worst hit and it’s this shortfall that will continue to fuel demand (if at a reduced rate) for overseas trained doctors.
After the critical years of getting bums on seats, Tim says it’s time to look at refining the workforce strategy.
“The promise of more local graduates means the future focus for Rural Health West can shift to finding the right doctors for the right job and to play a role in facilitating better planning and coordination of health service delivery in rural and remote areas.
“There are many players in the market who need to be brought together through an independent and constructive approach. An excellent example of this is the Rural Health Agency Reference Group which is collaborating to tackle the challenges and opportunities identified by rural doctors in the Finding My Place report. This collegiate approach will provide greater benefit to the country doctors and communities we are all working to support.”