Department of Health

Rural and regional medical director role

Key messages

The Victorian rural and regional health services’ medical director plays a key role in monitoring, maintaining and improving the safety and quality of health care.

A collaboration between the Department of Health and Human Services and the health sector has resulted in a suite of online resources to assist Victoria’s rural and regional health services in:

  • building a role outline for a medical director or deputy medical director
  • choosing an engagement model based on health service type.

In 2019, Victoria's rural and regional health sector, other key stakeholders and the Department of Health and Human Services collaborated to research and test the content of a medical director role outline for a rural or regional health service. The result is the Medical director role outline tool and Engagement model guide.

Both resources are designed to assist rural and regional chief executive officers and medical directors working in the Victorian public hospital system. They acknowledge the variation within the medical director role at multipurpose, small rural, local, sub-regional and regional health services.

Importantly, the Medical director role outline tool and Engagement model guide clarify the accountability and responsibilities of ‘clinical executives’, identified in these resources as medical directors, as noted in Victoria’s review into quality and safety and its report - Targeting Zero.

Medical director role outline tool

The Medical director role outline tool enables Victoria's rural and regional health services to identify the roles and responsibilities, personal skills and qualities, qualifications, resources and conditions for the role of medical director or deputy medical director.

The tool gives chief executive officers and boards assistance in building a role outline for the medical director or deputy medical director at each type of Victorian rural and regional health service.

Engagement model guide

The Engagement model guide is a map of engagement model options, a pathway to tailor the medical director or deputy medical director model of engagement recommended for the health service type, as set out in the Medical director role outline tool.

Downloads

Medical Director role outline tool template
other 87.63 KB
Engagement model guide - Victorian rural and regional health services' medical director role
docx 48.09 KB

Reviewed 30 October 2023

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