Effects of turnover and stability of health staff on quality of care in remote communities of the Northern Territory, Australia: a retrospective cohort study.

Overall, minimal evidence of the hypothesised negative effects of increased turnover, decreased stability and increased reliance on temporary staff on quality of care was found. Substantial variations in clinic-specific estimates of association were evident, suggesting that clinic-specific factors may counter any potential negative effects of decreased staff employment stability. Investigation of clinic-specific factors using latent class analysis failed to yield clinic characteristics that adequately explain between-clinic variation in associations. Understanding the reasons for this variation would significantly aid the provision of clinical care in remote Australia.