An outback New South Wales community is struggling to attract permanent doctors, with one of its longest-serving GPs recently leaving the town.

Although he was only in Bourke for 18 months, Dr Sheik Hayder forged strong connections with his patients, like Sarah Barton and her family.

"He knew the children's names, he knew who we were, you didn't necessarily have to go in and repeat everything that you'd been in there the week prior for," Ms Barton said.

Ms Barton, also a Bourke Shire Councillor, was reminded of the town's predicament recently when she had to fill out a form to enrol one of her daughters into childcare.

"You can't name your family doctor here because there is such a continual flow of different locums coming in and out," Ms Barton said.

Two new permanent doctors are expected to start work in August, but until then, the health of the community is once again largely in the care of a revolving door of locum doctors.

While the town does have a permanent GP working at the local medical centre and Aboriginal Medical Service, there are calls for more incentives to attract doctors with the accreditation to work in the local hospital and provide other public health services as well as general practice.

'Missing out on the care they need'

The loss of the Bourke-based doctor has also cost the community other medical services, such as the ability to conduct sexual assault examinations.

Now people have to travel four hours to Dubbo and replacing that service is a priority for the local provider, Rural and Remote Medical Services.

"It's such an important piece of medical support we need to provide, so we are absolutely looking to have our doctors trained up if they are willing and able to provide that important service," the organisation's chief executive Shane Hatton said.

The absence of an ongoing doctor is also a major problem for Bourke's large Indigenous community, especially its elders.

Resident Kirsty Knight said cultural divides added to the healthcare difficulties already facing the town's Indigenous communities.

"If they're hard of hearing and they've got to repeat, that's very frustrating for them and they would rather just not go to a doctor," Ms Knight said.

"Then they are missing out on the care that they need."

Working to bridge the gap

Locum doctors like Brisbane GP Fred Machiri say they love coming out to the bush to practise and provide care for the community.

"We try to bridge the gap between this doctor and that doctor and offer a service that is first-class in a town like Bourke," Dr Machiri said.

Doctor Fred Machiri is a locum doctor at Bourke Aboriginal Medical Service. ( ABC Western Plains: Jessie Davies )

Latest statistics reveal Bourke's struggle to attract and retain doctors is not in isolation.

Data from the Rural Doctors Network reveals the average length of stay for regional, rural, and remote GPs is just under three years, although some have defined terms.

Mr Hatton said GP's stay in a rural or remote area averaged one to two years.

He said the locum model was unsustainable, with the cost of GPs providing services in local hospitals being upward of $2,000 a day.

He and the Western NSW Local Health District and others in the health sector are trying to find solutions.

More incentive needed to bring doctors

The district's director of rural medical services Shannon Nott said it was "very keen to be working toward a longer term solution where we have a sustainable workforce".

"We're working with the rural generalists program in NSW to be able to place doctors with the right skills in the right communities," Dr Nott said.

Bourke Shire Council Mayor Barry Hollman says having health services in the community is a "basic right". ( ABC Western Plains: Jessie Davies )

But the Mayor of Bourke, Barry Hollman, is among those who have said more is needed to incentivise doctors and other healthcare workers to come to the region to service the public health sector, as well as general practice.

"Isn't it our basic right now that we should have health services available all the time?" Cr Hollman said.

He said he was working with other councils like Cobar and Walgett to get "the bureaucrats in Sydney understanding and listening to what we've got to say".