Director spreads the word from the hill tops
Hilltop provides motel style accommodation, at a heavily subsidised cost, to regional cancer patients undergoing treatment at the adjacent Cancer Centre and also their carers if required .. The Cancer Centre was expected to be treating 250 patients a week but this figure has already risen to 350 people.
Double celebrations: the Flying Doctor announces new Ambassador at its Charleville 80-year anniversary event
The Lighting the Way Ambassadors, selected for their genuine affinity with the Flying Doctor, work within their region to advocate for improved health and wellbeing outcomes for rural and remote Queenslanders ... Established in 1943, the Charleville Base services a waiting room of more than 622,000 square kilometres, connecting the residents of the South-West Queensland region to leading, and often lifesaving, health services.
Aged care in doubt
The future of residential aged care in Ardrossan is in doubt as the local hospital tackles challenges which forced it to close its accident and emergency, and acute care ... "We also reluctantly realised our ability to provide sustainable aged care was doubtful and it was unlikely any other private provider would be interested in taking over these services": Ardrossan Community Hospital chairperson Margaret Tomsen.
PATS expands to prosthetic and orthotic appointments: Picton
South Australians living in rural and regional areas will now be eligible for financial support to travel to specialist Prosthetic and Orthotic clinics for health appointments, under an expansion of the Patient Assistance Transport Scheme ... To qualify for this service, people must attend either a public or private hospital or outpatient clinic...
Making bore water fit for dialysis
Making scarce and impure bore water in The Centre’s outback fit for use in medical dialysis has earned Alice local Michael C Smith a Distinguished Alumni Award from Flinders University in Adelaide. “I’m proud that one of my designs is working today in Kiwirrkurra, Australia’s most remote Aboriginal community,” says Dr Smith.
ABS conducts Aboriginal health survey in the Barkly
A team from the Australian Bureau of Statistics has visited Tennant Creek and Barkly remote communities as part of the nationwide survey of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people ... Residents are asked if they would like to take part in the survey...
New telehealth trolleys bring great benefits to WWHS’ aged care residents
New telehealth trolleys, offering greater access to health professionals without the need for travel, have been rolled out across all West Wimmera Health Service’s ten residential aged care facilities ... these trolleys are now being wheeled around our aged care facilities...
Fixing GP crisis
Why is our general practitioner system broken, and how do we fix it? Rural communities in the South East continue to face GP shortages, and the closure of many small-town medical clinics because of our failure to attract and retain specialist doctors is putting rural patients at risk.
Behind the eyes of a carer
Resthaven Manager Service Development, Tam Henwood, is passionate about the Staying at Home in Regional South Australia Program. As the primary carer of her mother, Tam’s involvement with the initiative is not exclusive to the office, having participated in a retreat earlier this year with her mother who lives with dementia.
Parkinson’s disease research collaboration to improve lives in regional, rural, and remote Australia: Charles Sturt University
A collaborative research project led by Charles Sturt University in Port Macquarie has the potential to improve the health and care services for people living with Parkinson’s disease in rural, regional, and remote Australia ... Parkinson’s disease is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder globally, after Alzheimer’s disease...
Queenslanders left confused by health department statistics
The Queensland Government has recently released positive statistical information on Health Department outcomes on the Darling Downs, while this week the Opposition’s M.P. and Shadow Minister for Health and Ambulance Services, Ros Bates has released statistical data showing negative Health Services outcomes for the twelve months to the end of June across the state.
A&E shutdown
Michelle Daw. Ardrossan Community Hospital has temporarily shut its accident and emergency service and acute care in response to ongoing financial losses and workforce challenges ... Increased costs include governance and compliance, employment of agency staff to fill staff shortages, and on-call retainer payments for doctors. The hospital’s income has been impacted by a decrease in the number of people with private health insurance and workforce shortages.
Cost blowout
When will the Bordertown community get a new medical hub? That’s the million-dollar question ratepayers are asking the Tatiara District Council that’s battling a “developer crisis”. Plans for a multi-million-dollar medical clinic on the land next to the Bordertown Hospital … have been scrapped as the developer faces a cost blowout of over $2million.
BRADAAG workshop to promote enhanced AOD service
The Barkly Regional Alcohol and Drug Abuse Advisory Group (BRADAAG) is inviting the community to an information workshop about the development of an enhanced local service working to reduce the impacts of the harmful use of alcohol and other drugs (AOD) ... Professor Dennis Gray ... will present on BRADAAG’s response to his report into the organisation...
Feeding friendly group in Kadina
Jess Liddy. A feeding-friendly group has started in Kadina. Australian Breastfeeding Association counsellor Sally Michael and her daughter, trainee counsellor Mary Carroll, wanted to bridge a gap locally ... “We will talk through all different kinds of baby topics throughout a session — not just feeding.”
Not trivial – How much money can one student raise over dinner?
Proving age is no barrier regarding charitable acts, Lachlan Baker, in Year 6 at Trinity Anglican School (TAS) Kewarra Beach campus hosted a dinner and trivia event, raising $1255 for local charity COUCH. Lachlan tells ARR.News about his first, and very successful, fundraising experience.
Regional health gap – Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals responds to Westfund report
Melina Morrison, BCCM CEO, responds to the Westfund Regional Health Gap Report and answers a few questions from Australian Rural & Regional News ... "The co-operative business model, with its emphasis on grass roots democratic management, and sustainability, is ideally suited to providing care services in small and under-supplied markets."
Our Q&A
The lack of a TAFE, children with special needs, the health bureaucracy, E-tag regulations, arts, rare earth mining, radiation therapy and plastics were among 16 questions asked at last week’s Country Cabinet forum in Naracoorte. During a two-day whirlwind visit SA Premier Peter Malinauskas, his ministers and all department chiefs collectively met with hundreds of people as they travelled to various special spots within our region.
Snake season
Be on the lookout for hungry and angry venomous snakes. That’s the message from a local snake catcher as the weather starts to warm up in the South East. David Miles says not only has the snake season landed early, but the reptiles are also hungry in warm spring weather, posing danger to people and dogs ... The Australian Reptile Park has also issued an “urgent warning” for people to be on the lookout for venomous snakes, saying a rise in temperatures, coupled with winter rainfall, was the perfect environment for venomous snakes to become more active.
Last resort – LHAC resign over MLHD failures
In a shock announcement, the Moulamein Local Health Advisory Committee resigned en masse at its AGM ... The committee said their positions were untenable after the nearly three years of broken promises, failure to take action and a lack of community support and engagement by Murrumbidgee Local Health District.
Shortage of healthcare providers putting regional Australians’ health at risk: Westfund
The ‘Westfund Regional Health Gap Report’ shows that access to healthcare remains an ongoing issue for Australians in regional areas, with half (49 per cent) of respondents considering the wait time to see their GP unreasonable, some having to wait up to six weeks to get an appointment, and many having to travel more than two hours for an in-person consultation with specialists ... Mark Genovese, Westfund CEO, answers some questions from ARR.News about general trends, specific initiatives for specific areas, digital health care and more.
Be aware of hydatids
Dr Jeff Cave. You may have recently read that a living roundworm, suspected to have come from the faeces of a carpet python, was pulled from brain of a woman in New South Wales. It was the first documented case of the parasite infecting a human.
