In a remote town where people often have to receive healthcare at the pub, the opening of a nation-first 24/7 Royal Flying Doctor Service centre has left station workers and William Creek residents celebrating.
Less than 20 permanent residents live in the town but it's a hub for surrounding stations and tourists on the Oodnadatta Track.Federal Health Minister Mark Butler says the government will monitor the results before looking to see if it can be replicated elsewhere.
Residents in and around a remote outback town have celebrated the opening of an unstaffed centre that will offer a 24/7 telehealth service backed by the Royal Flying Doctors Service . Located about 860 kilometres north of Adelaide and 850km south-east of Alice Springs, the remote town of William Creek has a permanent population of less than 20. But more than 26,000 tourists pass through the town every year to travel the nearby Oodnadatta Track or see Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre from the air.from fly-in teams at the William Creek Hotel and there was no place for people to seek emergency medical care. In an Australian-first initiative, a new $2 million facility, co-funded by the federal government and RFDS and opened on Friday, will provide around-the-clock medical attention via telehealth to the outback community. The Williams family has lived on Peake Station, about 100 kilometres from William Creek, for three years. Kirsty Williams said the RFDS was a "lifeline" and hoped the new William Creek Community Health Service would help future-proof the town by providing high quality medical attention instantly in the outback."But for locals, it's incredible. For tourists coming through the area, it's a game changer, really."Those seeking healthcare attend the unstaffed clinic and are connected with a doctor in Port Augusta or Adelaide via video link. Patients can self-administer tests to check blood pressure or oxygen levels and run an electrocardiogram , with results live-streamed to the healthcare workers communicating with them. Users can then wait in the medical facility until an RFDS plane lands on the airstrip directly next to the building. As well as 24/7 emergency medicine, two consulting rooms will facilitate fortnightly visits from dental or allied healthcare workers. RFDS SA/NT central operations chief executive Tony Vaughan said while they ran staffed clinics elsewhere in the state, the William Creek service was the first of its kind."It adds a level of comfort for people to be able to come and have a consultation in private and at a level that people would expect in a regional city."Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said the government would monitor the results from the clinic to determine whether the model of care could be rolled out elsewhere. "Innovations like this need to be evaluated. The Commonwealth has put $1 million along with the RFDS into this and we want to make sure we get the best value for taxpayers," he said. "Not just for the community of William Creek and the thousands of tourists who come through here, but learn from this and see whether we can replicate it around other outback centres." Mr Vaughan said they were in the early stages of conversation with governments for establishing similar initiatives elsewhere in the state.Mother forced to drive hours to meet sick newborn flown to hospital from country townRegional CommunitiesAn island nation taken over by gangs: This is what life is like under Barbecue's reign Audrey closed the doors of a Canberra day spa at 4pm. Within hours, she had lost her job and was facing deportation Invisible, forced to live with your boss, then tossed onto the street: Welcome to life as a domestic worker in HKWhy are women in countries with the lowest fertility rates not having kids? Marc Mietus picked up a hitchhiker at a NSW truck stop in January, 2000. Two weeks later, he vanishedWill a 'stability clause' solve Tasmania's disgruntled pollie problem?How a group of women claimed squatters' rights in two vacant homes to set up Australia's first women's refugeThe scam is simple: Promise a Nepalese man a better life in Russia, then force him into Putin's war Audrey closed the doors of a Canberra day spa at 4pm. Within hours, she had lost her job and was facing deportation Marc Mietus picked up a hitchhiker at a NSW truck stop in January, 2000. Two weeks later, he vanishedAn island nation taken over by gangs: This is what life is like under Barbecue's reign Audrey closed the doors of a Canberra day spa at 4pm. Within hours, she had lost her job and was facing deportation Invisible, forced to live with your boss, then tossed onto the street: Welcome to life as a domestic worker in HK
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