Engagement model guide

The Engagement model guide is a map of option combinations, a pathway, to build your medical director or deputy medical director model of engagement as set out in the medical director role outline tool.

Importantly, the models align to Victoria's different types of public rural and regional health services. They give chief executive officers and boards guidance on how to engage a medical director or deputy medical director within the Victorian human resources; regulatory and industrial relations landscape. The different types of engagement are:

• Independent: contractor or consultant.
• Direct employment.
• Shared (a role shared across two medical directors)
  or
  Joint appointment (a medical director appointed across multiple health services)
• Deputy: Shared (a role shared across two deputy medical directors)
  or
  Deputy: Joint appointment (a deputy medical director appointed across multiple health services).

The pathways outlining the engagement models were developed through reviewing current Victorian practice and from surveying key stakeholders including chief executive officers; medical directors; senior medical officers including general practitioners; consumers, carers and community members; other members of our multi-disciplinary executive health service teams; medical colleges and representative organisations; Safer Care Victoria; and the Department of Health.

Using the guide at your rural or regional Victorian health service

The Engagement model guide should be used as a ‘ready-reckoner’ to assist you in building the best fit medical director or deputy medical director role outline for your health service(s). Read the guide prior to building your role outline using the medical director role outline tool.

as it gives you the pathway, or combination of options, which the key stakeholders advised as the best fit at each of Victoria’s different types of rural and regional health services under:

• engagement type
• status (contractor or employee)
• engagement tool
• terms of negotiation – standard arrangements
• recommended hours, fractional appointment or effective full time.

Based on your type of rural or regional health service each pathway enables you to determine: if a contract or letter of appointment should be used; if the medical director is an employee or contractor; the minimum hours or days the aforementioned key stakeholders recommended; and when to refer to the Medical Practitioner Award 2010, the current Enterprise Bargaining Agreement and/or use an executive employment policy; or when a commercial contract should set out the standard terms of engagement. As you build your medical director or deputy medical director role outline using the tool you will populate the summary option boxes for the role (opening page of the tool) using the information in the engagement models.