The reasons are many and complex. For some it is the chance to use their full range of skills – surgical, obstetric, anaesthetic – and not just be a prescription-writing city GP. For others it is about lifestyle, an attraction which also draws many others here, when they could earn more elsewhere.

So Kangaroo Island has been blessed with a cohort of young, dedicated practitioners with interesting life histories and lifestyles who bring more than just their medical skills.

These things are stacked against the difficulties of living here – isolation in not just a geographical sense but also a professional sense, the cost of travelling to the mainland, the sometimes suffocating realities of living in a small community where everyone knows your business.

While issues of lower pay can be ameliorated by lifestyle benefits, it is harder to constantly battle the bureaucracy of the health system.

It is important to note that while frontline staff at the hospital and certainly the Director of Nursing and Executive Officer Donna Cowan may be bearing the brunt of community anger over the situation, they are not to blame. Indeed, they have the support of the local doctors.

The hospital management also is facing the problems of securing adequate services for the community.

While Kangaroo Island has been spared the worst of the rationalisations other country centres have endured in recent years, it is geographical commonsense that we need the full range of services here.

A serious negotiated solution must be found for the current stalemate. Ultimatums and threats from any party are unacceptable. The welfare of the Kangaroo Island community and the ability to maintain adequate medical services must be the objective of all concerned.