Department of Health Library Services Epublications - Historical Collection
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Department of Health Library Services ePublications - Historical Collection Please Note: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this publication may contain images, voices or names of deceased persons in photographs, film, audio recordings or printed material. Purpose To apply preservation treatments, including digitisation, to a high value and vulnerable Historical collection of items held in the Darwin and Alice Springs libraries so that the items may be accessed without causing further damage to the original items and provide accessibility for stakeholders. Reference and Research Disclaimer Please note: this document is part of the Historical Collection and the information contained within may be out of date. This copy is a reproduction of an original record. Please note that the quality of the original record may be poor and cannot be enhanced with the scanning process. Northern Territory Department of Health Library Services Historical Collection TERRI,:OIH .HEAL TH SERVICES lllllllllil/llllllllll!llllllllilllllllllllllll!llil!llllllllllllllll!lll!llllll 3 0820 00019933 6 47098 R E P O R T of Corrunittee of Review Provision of Aerial Medical Services South of Katherine 1983 Appointment of the Committee 1. Minister for Health met with the RFDS Federal President and the Execuiive Council of the RFDS (SA and NT Section) on 2 February 1982. 2. Government decided to establish a Committee of Review to examine the provision of aerial medical services south of Katherine. 3. Preliminary meeting held in Darwin on 2 April 1982. Present were Messrs B. Lodge, P. Dossett, I. Wiese representing the RFDS. Departmental representatives were Ors Fleming, Anderson, Kirke. This meeting accepted the Terms of Reference for the Committee as amended by Mr Lodge (Attachment 1) and a working plan for the Committee (Attachment 2) presented by Mr Lodge. 4. On 14 April 1982, RFDS nominated its three Committee members. 5. Committee membership was formalised as follows: Dr Keith Fleming Chairman Mr Barry Lodge Mr Sam Calder Mr H. (Ossie) Watts Mr Lyel Kempster Dr Allen Limmer. Secretariat: Dr Don Anderson, Mr Peter Dossett. 6. Press release on 14 May 1982 by Minister for Health (Attachment 3) advising of the appointment of a Committee of Review and its functions. Committee Meetings and Action Taken The first meeting was held on Monday 19 April 1982 in the Conference Room, Alice Springs Hospital. Those present were Drs Fleming, Limmer; Messrs Lodge, Calder, Watts; and Secretariat: Dr Anderson, Mr Dossett with apologies from Mr Kempster. 2 Copies of a telex submission from Tillair (Attachment 4) were tabled. The Terms of Reference was given to participants and agreed. The Committee adopted the working plan as presented by Mr Lodge, and the following was to be undertaken: (a) Up to date data, at present in short supply, was to be gathered from the follm,,ring "consumers 11 of air medical services - pastoralists; rural communities, mainly Aboriginal; mining companies; and tourist authorities. (b) This data was to be obtained from a questionnaire sent to the above groups, accompanied by a "Background Information" document. (c) The questionnaire would seek to gain information on: communications; aircraft; and medical services. The above documents, including the questionnaire, were sent and submissions invited from th~ following: NTAMS and Alice Springs Hospital staff; private doctors; Central Australian Aboriginal Congress; Department of Aboriginal Affairs; General Aviation industry - Tillair, Chartair, Tennantair, Leach Aero Services, etc; St John Ambulance; certain Public Service Departments - Conservation Comrnission, Tourist Comrnission, Police Department; and Town Councils in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and ine. 3 Fifty eight stations in the Alice Springs and Tennant Creek area were sent questionnaires and information documents. (Attachment 5). Mr P. Dossett and Mr D. Miller (Pastoralist/ Councillor for RFDS) approached Mr Malcolm Roberts (Secretary of the Centralian Cattlemens Association) and explained to him what the Committee was trying to achieve. Mr Roberts contacted all the stations receiving the questionnaire and asked them to respond. An advertisement (Attachment 6) was placed in the following newspapers: Centralian Advocate 12 May 1982 Alice Springs Star 14 May 1982 The Tennant & District Times 14 May 1982 Katherine Advertiser 13 May 1982. Prior to the second meeting, the Secretariat met in Alice Springs on the 16, 17 June 1982. (a) questionnaire returns and submissions were collated: ~ thirty seven statibns responded from fifty eight circularised; four mining companies responded from thirty one circularised; no response from the thirty four coach/tour operators circularised. (b) submissions received were summarised (Attachment 7); (c) replies from the thirty seven questionnaires were analysed (Attachments 8 and 9). 4 The second meeting was held on 18 June 1982 in the Conference Room, Alice Springs Hospital. Those present were Ors Fleming, Cooter (vice Dr Limmer); Messrs Lodge, Calder, Watts, Kempster and Secretariat: Dr Anderson, Mr Dossett. The Committee studied all the submissions and questionnaires received and the analyses and summaries produced by the Secretariat. The Committee decided that the study should be extended to cover the area around and south of Katherine itself and that further questionnaires should be sent to stations in this area. Seventy eight questionnaires were sent to the Katherine area on Wednesday 30 June by Alice Springs Regional Health Office. A press statement was made by the Minister on 9 July 1982 (Attachment 10). The third meeting was held on 5, 6 August 1982 in the Conference, Room, Alice Springs Hospital. Those present were Ors Fleming, Hagley (vice Dr Limmer); Messrs Lodge, Miller (vice Mr Calder), Watts, Kempster and Secretariat: Dr Anderson, Mr Dossett. Committee members studied the replies received from the seventy eight questionnaires sent to the stations in the Katherine area. From the replies received, there appeared to be a problem with communications in the area. However, as the response was so poor, the Committee decided that the stations be circularised again, and all nursing sisters in the bush similarly invited to respond to the questionnaire (Attachment 11). Mr J. Tilley, of Tillair, spoke to his submission. It was further decided to seek the assistance of Mr Cliff Emerson, Secretary, N.T. Cattlemens Council to obtain a better response from stations (Attachment 12). 5 Prior to the fourth meeting of the Committee, information and maps requested at the third meeting were supplied to all members. (Attachment 13) . The fourth meeting was held on 7,8 October 1982 in the Conference Room, Alice Springs Hospital. Those present were Drs Kirke (acting Chairman), Limmer; Messrs Lodge, Calder, Watts, Kempster and Secretariat: Dr Anderson, Mr Dossett. Apologies were received from Dr Fleming. Agenda and report of meeting at Attachment 14. There was a much better response to the second request to return questionnaries; thirty five replies being received as compared to seventeen from the first request. This made a total of one hundred and one questionnaires returned from two hundred that were sent to all "consumers" of air medical services. l The main respondents were pastoralists and from one hundred and thirty stations sent questionnaires, a total of eighty stations replied; a percentage return of 61 per cent. Committee members studied the replies received from the latest responses and considered all the summarised information gathered to date. This revealed that there was generally a high level of satisfaction with the existing services out of Alice Springs and less satisfaction with those in the Katherine area. The prime factor in all the problems looked at by the Committee was the need for reliable communications, a fact that became evident during the discussions at the Committee's third meeting in August. 6 Other problems dealt with were the availability, response time and suitability of aircraft and the frequency of medical and nursing visits. It appeared the former were related to the nature of the private charter companies providing the aircraft and the latter were "in house" problems for the Department of Health to solve, but which could be prevented in many cases by adequate communications. A review of emergr:.:ncy flights out of Alice Springs revealed an average cost to the Department of approximately $1.8 per mile for aerial evacuations, compared to an approximate cost of $5.4 per mile for road ambulance services. The Committee reviewed the terms of reference as at Attaclunent 1 and agreed that - the demands made by consumers and the needs as seen by experts did not always coincide and that the onus of maintenance of medical kits, radios, aerials and airstrips rests with the owners; statistics do not support the view that aerial medical services favour Aboriginal persons; a function of an aerial medical service is to provide information to "consumers" on the availability of medical advice, frequency of medical visits, scheduled times for radio medical services, use of the radio etc; a doctor experienced in the local situation should be available for emergency calls 24 hours per day and that a medically trained person, acting as the co-ordinator, m11st decide how the evacuation is to be conducted and who is to act as aerial attendant(s); 7 a lack of co-ordination would produce misuse of resources, duplication and could cause occasional catastrophies; the communications