Until late yesterday the region’s major referral hospital was facing the prospect of losing Dr Graeme Doig, one of just two overseas-trained surgeons currently providing the service.

But according to hospital management, on Thursday night, NSW Health agreed to extend Dr Doig’s contract.

And after intense negotiations between Dr Doig and the NEAHS, medical services director Peter Finlayson said Dr Doig would stay —at least for another year.

But while his contract is assured, there is still no guarantee he will be able to practice privately — which could prove a sticking point.

In an exclusive interview with The Leader last week, Dr Doig’s wife revealed that unless her husband was able to cut through bureaucratic red tape, the couple would be forced to return to their homeland, the United Kingdom.

Mrs Doig said her husband’s retention depended upon whether or not he could obtain a provider number — which would enable him to bill private patients through Medicare.

Mrs Doig said her husband was hoping to set up private rooms at Tamara Private Hospital which was recruiting to replace its own outgoing orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Robert Creer.

Dr Creer is currently the only surgeon providing private services in Tamworth and Gunnedah.

“We’ve got to the end of our tether because we just feel if things don’t get sorted out there’s no incentive for Graeme or myself to stay here,” Mrs Doig said.

Dr Doig’s wife, April, said she wanted to publicise their predicament in a bid to keep the community informed of a looming crisis she described as “ludicrous”.

“I don’t think they (the community) have any insight whatsoever as to what’s going on,” Mrs Doig said.

Mrs Doig was referring to the fact that despite a critical shortage, Dr Doig was having to face the ending of his contract and the provider number uncertainty.

Mrs Doig claimed to have been stonewalled by bureaucracy with her inquiries as to why Dr Doig could not obtain a provider number going “from pillar to post”.

“Nobody would actually take responsibility for the reason why these guys couldn’t practice privately, we couldn’t pinpoint that to anybody,” Mrs Doig said.

Mrs Doig said she had contacted Federal Member for Gwydir John Anderson whose staff were “more than willing to help,”

“They don’t want to see him leaving, they are more than happy to take this to Michael Wooldridge (Federal health minister) and his advisor,” Mrs Doig said.

“If they don’t get themselves in order it’s the people that live here that lose out,” she said.

Dr Doig’s loss would leave the region with Dr Haig Lennox in Tamworth, Dr Robin Diebold in Armidale and for the next four months at least, Dr Robert Creer, in private practice at Tamara. The question also remains whether Dr Lennox’s contract will also be extended.

The New England Area Health Service employed the surgeons under the NSW Government’s Area of Need (AON) status which enables rural health services to recruit overseas specialists.

Their registration under AON expired in October and until yesterday Dr Doig had no guarantee that his would be extended.