The standard of medical services followed at the Tennant Creek Hospital has been fiercely defended by the Northern Territory Department of Health.

The Country Liberals have asserted that the Government has continually been downgrading the services offered, which has resulted in most people voluntarily leaving Tennant Creek to consult other specialists.

Alan Wilson, the department spokesperson, shared that hospital is well maintained and properly staffed, and negative comments about the NT's health system have now made it difficult to hire more medical professionals.

"Anything that damages our ability to recruit to the Territory Health Service does us a great deal of damage and it's important we continually market how good the services are, while we continue to make them even better", said Mr. Wilson.

"The manner in which you put services into hospitals depends a lot on not just the funding but also being able to recruit and provide a reliable service. Getting staff for rural and remote Australia is quite a challenge and Tennant Creek is no exception in that regard", he added.