A plan to improve access to health care could see junior General Practitioners directly employed in hospitals across the New England region.
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Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall said the current Visiting Medical Officer (VMO) scheme in some hospitals that don't have permanent doctors on site needed to be scrapped.
"A huge portion of this region, including clinicians, believe the time is now to abandon the VMO model with its dwindling supply of GPs in our communities," Mr Marshall said.
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"It's time to directly employ doctors in our local hospitals which is something that we have never ever seen before."
Mr Marshall was speaking alongside Minister for Regional Health Bronnie Taylor who was in Armidale on Wednesday morning visiting clinicians, nurses, doctors and key stakeholders as part of her tour that later took in Inverell and Glen Innes.
The health minister agreed to visit the region following growing momentum for better health services including more than 5000 signatures so far on a community petition to split Hunter New England Health.
Ms Taylor said the government would be looking at the Murrumbidgee Model which has been successful in other areas, with junior GPs directly stationed in hospitals for patients with minor and major emergency health concerns.
"The real issue here is to make sure we're listening to clinicians and what they're telling us," Ms Taylor said.
"They (doctors, nurses and clinicians) were raising issues around workforce, and models of care, and they were really positive about the Murrumbidgee model."
Mr Marshall said the model is part of a number of short-term, medium-term and long term solutions put to the minister for health.
Meanwhile, he said the visit itself was a significant step.
"No-one can ever remember when we've ever seen the secretary of the NSW Department of Health in our region," Mr Marshall said.
"And these are some of the doctors who have been practicing in our region for decades who have never seen any secretary of the NSW Department of Health, let alone a health minister turn up.
"So, that in itself is constructive," he said.
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