Description
The town
Byron Bay has been voted Australia's most beautiful coastal town, and rightly so! It boasts stunning beaches, lush rainforests, and picturesque townships. The laid-back vibe makes this place perfect for relaxing holidays.
The climate is warm all year round, making it an ideal destination for outdoor activities such as surfing, swimming, fishing, boating, hiking, camping, horse riding, cycling, and golfing. There are numerous wineries located throughout the region, which offer tours and tastings.
If you're looking for a more active time, then why not try one of the many adventure sports available here? From white water rafting to abseiling, kayaking, mountain biking, rock climbing, and even bungee jumping, you'll be sure to find something to suit your needs.
And don't forget to check out the local cuisine at some of the restaurants around the region. You won't go hungry after sampling the fresh seafood, mouthwatering steaks, delicious pizzas, and scrumptious cakes.
The hospital
Byron Central Hospital has been providing quality healthcare since 1879. The hospital provides medical care to patients throughout the community and surrounding areas. It offers a wide range of services including emergency room, maternity ward, outpatient clinics, laboratory testing, radiology, surgery, and more.
The hospital is located just off Highway 70/71, near downtown Byron Center. There are several restaurants, shops, and other businesses nearby.
Location
Reviews
2024
Locuming here is pleasant and as a result I've done in multiple times. The workload is much lower than compared to Metro EDs I'm used to, and the staffing levels have consistently been excellent. The facility itself is quite small and has limited access to pathology (samples are driven to Tweed for processing), but easy access to x-ray and CT. Naturally the ED sees lots of back-packers from diverse countries which is interesting and provides variety. During the day, the team consists of a CMO or a FACEM with 3-5 RMOs. Overnight, it's typically been one or two RMOs with an on-call senior 10 minutes away, as sometimes there's less than 5 presentations out of hours. Overall I'd highly recommend locuming here, and strongly encourage people to get lunch from The Farm which is a trendy cafe just across the road.
2024
This is quite a low acuity medical facility, and is closer to a rehab or geris ward, rather than a bona fide acute medical ward. I believe the policy is that anyone who needs Bipap or sicker goes to Tweed, but in my experience the threshold is much lower than that. Working here as an RMO does require a degree of independence as there are stretches where you are the only doctor on site for medical, but you are very well supported by the community GP VMOs who the patients are admitted under. Also, because the overall acuity isn't high, I found the job safe and manageable. There are days where the workload can be moderately high, but I was never doing extensive overtime or being particularly stressed by that. Friendly, approachable ward staff in my experience - although the relationship between the ward and ED can be strained at times (what else is new). Overall I'd recommend it to most doctors - seems like a great first independent locum job.
2024
Overall this a pleasant locum as a RMO / junior unaccredited registrar. It's a very low acuity facility, something between a rehab ward and a nursing home. Expect half or more of the 20 inpatients to be awaiting nursing home placement without acute medical issues. The ward is staffed by GP VMOs who will typically round once a day but otherwise spend a lot of time off campus. All were professional and friendly to take phone calls at any time, however. Anybody sicker than 2LNP wouldn't meet admission criteria to this ward so genuine severe acute medical issues are quite rare. In the rare case of a rapid (I had one trivial rapid in one month of working there) you are supported by 1-4 doctors from ED, often including a FACEM. It would suit a PGY-3+ with a bit of experience making independent management plans for low acuity geriatric patients. Great camaraderie among the nursing and allied health teams. Be sure to get a coffee and a pastry from The Farm Cafe across the road.
2024
Tuckeroo is a sub-acute mental health unit with high emphasis on multi disciplinary team approach. There are 2 consultants and 2 registrars who were great the work with! As the RMO your role consists of admission work up including history/ examinations, bloods, reviewing ECGs, and then also any review of medical complaints, and discharge paperwork. Some days can get busy if there are a lot of admissions / discharges, but you are encouraged to sit in psych reviews if you are free and the registrars will try help where possible. There are daily activities run by various allied health staff which you are encouraged to attend if work load allows (daily morning meeting, Wednesday BBQ, sessions like meditation and yoga!). The facility is fairly new and has great coffee / cakes at the cafe (my team made it a daily habit for coffee after handover). Also across the road is “The Farm” which is a must visit! Overall a very welcoming work environment, and a bit more relaxed than a typical mental health unit.
2024
Byron ED is a pleasant place to work. A day shift typically has one-two seniors (CMO or FACEM) along with 2-4 RMOs depending on the time of day. Shifts can be busy, but typically nowhere near as busy as a big metro ED. Overnight there's typically one or two SRMO/junior registrars, with on-call senior support 10 minutes away. This might be unsettling for new locums but often there are less than 10 presentations in total overnight which balances this out. The overall complexity of patient is typically not high - lots of backpackers and families on holiday with minor ailments. The unit is largely dependent on iSTAT bloods but there are couriers to Lismore for bloods 3-4 times a day. Good access to x-ray and CT during daylight, but limited access to ultrasound. The hospital is quite new and runs on Powerchart which largely works well. This is a great spot to locum given the reasonable workload and excellent location. Be sure to head across the road to "The Farm" for lunch - an incredible cafe and restaurant that features plenty of bakery goods baked fresh on site.
2022
Only worked in IPU so can't comment on ED. It's a GP-run ward of 42 (I think) beds - low acuity and generally a very cruisey shift. Nurses are welcoming and nice, very helpful showing me around the ward and with anything I needed. Basically you round with the GP on call, hang on the ward for any jobs / reviews required, then there's an on-call component. I've only rounded with one of the GPs and he was very supportive and easy to get along with. The other GPs do their own rounds and write notes. Most of them are nice and will introduce themselves and welcome you, sometimes hand over a couple jobs or patients to watch out for. Unfortunately I've also had GPs write for me to review in their plans but not introduce themselves or hand anything over, hence 3 stars for supportiveness. Facilities and new and lovely, across the road from the Farm. I believe they usually offer accommodation which I declined so ignore that rating. Med admin can be difficult to communicate with sometimes.
2024
Great locum job - well supported. RMO on with FACEM/CMO + couple of SRMOs during the day. Low acuity presentations, has a general medical ward in hospital but any other specialty is transfer to Tweed / Lismore / etc. Bloods sent to Lismore - bit of a delay with results, iSTAT on site. Lovely nursing staff. Would recommend ++ The Farm cafe is right across the hospital for a quick meal break
2024
The workload was very manageable and the registrars were very helpful. Byron is a beautiful area to explore whilst working too!