Maternity services will be reinstated at Chinchilla Hospital with the goal of restoring level three capabilities at the facility.
A meeting between Darling Downs Health and Hospital Service and the Rural Doctors Association of Queensland last month saw both parties agree that the optimum model was the restoration of a level three service supported by a rural generalist, generalist nursing and midwifery workforce.
DDHHS chief executive Dr Peter Gillies said they were currently in the planning stages for the new model of care.
"While we complete this process, we are recruiting additional midwives to support the service at the Chinchilla Hospital," he said.
"Our recent recruitment process was successful in attracting a new midwife and we are advertising again shortly for further clinical caseload midwife positions."
Despite no definitive timeframe for the restoration, Dr Gillies said recruiting to support a sustainable maternity service was their priority.
"We are confident that the collaborative continuity of care provides an attractive model for recruitment," he said.
"We are not unique in our challenges to recruit to our rural facilities in both medical and nursing and it is well-known that there is a nation-wide shortage of midwives.
"Our next steps to re-establishing the service will be in attracting the right staff to the facility to support a new model of care for mums and their babies."
Discussions between DDHHS and RDAQ included an agreed plan for restoration, which will happen through a staged approach.
RDAQ president Dr Neil Beaton said their position remained that birthing services shouldn't be closed and discussions with Dr Gillies had been constructive.
"We've got a plan going forward to get some more data around the potential for self-sufficiency at Chinchilla and what kind of service it could look like," he said.
In a submission to the Rural Maternity Taskforce, Dr Beaton said the RDAQ believes maternity care should be delivered to women and their families as close to home as is safe and possible, by a collaborative team.
"Experience has shown collaborative, multidisciplinary maternity care is the most successful model for stable rural and remote maternity services," he wrote.
"When local birthing is removed from a facility's service mix, the health service capacity is diminished in acute care, procedural interventions and management of serious illness or injury.
"Local birthing is a foundation for a healthy community."
