July 10, 2025 • 17 mins
Public health is never far from the spotlight. In this episode iHeart SA runs the stethoscope over the regions - what's improving, and where more work is needed.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
iHeart Essays. Hello and welcome to iHeart Essay. I'm Robert Clennan.
Hospitals are never far from the media spotlight, and for
good reason. Public health and whether the system's actually healthy
is a subject that's always up for debate, especially here
in Essay. Australian hospitals are recognized as being among the
best in the world, at least in the big cities,
(00:23):
where highly skilled staff and the latest tech are never
far away. It can be a different story though, for
those living outside the capitals, where scattered populations make it
harder to attract doctors and tough choices need to be
made about where expensive medical equipment is best located.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Yeah, in South Australia, I think we have a population
of one million one point four living Adelaide and the
rest lived across this vast, beautiful state of ours.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
That's the president of the AMA in South Australia, Professor
Peter Siromanium and will he more from him shortly. Despite
the difficulties of distance, progress is being made with a
spate of positive health announcements focused on regional say in
the last week or so. They include an increase in
the number of trainee doctors, better accessibility to aerial patient transport, and,
(01:13):
as MP Chris Picton told Jackie Limb, the return of
a much needed service for people living on the air Peninsula.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
This is incredibly exciting to have the Wiler birthing services
back up and running and now having delivered services for
the past year is a relief for the town and
it's a really vital service which is now much improved.
This is meaning women and families in the Wiler region
now have certainty that they can have their babies at
(01:40):
Wyler Hospital in a really new part of a hospital
that's been updated with new midwiffery team on board who
are delivering excellent care.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Yeah, definitely, so one baby born every three days is
about the statistic. So it was closed for quite a
period there though, there was no birthing services at Wyale
and so we had to go through several inquiries and
get all sorts of different people involved in trying to
figure out how the best way to proceed was. But
obviously that's done the trick.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
If you look around the country, there's a lot of
examples where berthing services have temporarily closed and then they've
never reopened. And we were absolutely determined, so that not
happened in Wyler, but it has been a lot of work,
a lot of recruitment, a lot of change in terms
of how these services are happening, and it's meant that
those services are now being delivered consistently high quality and
(02:30):
we can see with those one hundred and twenty babies born,
what a difference it's made to the community.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Not having to travel as well, you know, going up
to kim but going to Portagasta, even going to Adelaide
a weight off a lot of expectant mother's shoulders.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Well, the travel is a big impact and we have
a huge desire to see a vibrant future for Wiler
and having important health services like birthing is a key
part of the future of Wiler.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Pretty cool statistic as well, pretty even split with boys
and girls coming into the world there as well, which
is kind of cute.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
It is cute to see that the roughly even boys
and girls coming to the Wiler community.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
The Portagasta ed got some work going on, should be
wrapping up in the next three four months, is that correct.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
We're upgrading a lot of hospitals across the state, and
Port Augusta is one of those. Critically, the emergency department
is being upgraded and that's going to deliver important safety
upgrades and clinical upgrades. That's going to deliver a better
outcome for both clinicians who work there and the patients
who need those services, And.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
So what works exactly are going on at the moment.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
There's a lot of works happening in terms of how
the waiting room and reception area will work, as well
as making sure that we've got a better environment for
staff and patients and a better streamline experience for patients
coming through the emergency department as well. It going to
be a monitored bed. Refurbishment will include a new on
suite and anti room which will help the hospital better
(03:56):
manage patients with infectious diseases as well. Importantly as well,
there's a new security screening area at the front entrance.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
It is a little bit of a labyrinth when you
get in there, it's a little bit hard to know
where to turn, so hoping that that's a little bit
more straightforward for people in the future.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Then the clinicians who work at Portagusta Hospital do an
incredible job, but it's not the best layout for those
services at the moment, and so we're hopeful that this
nine million dollar upgrade is going to enable them to
be able to deliver that care in a better way,
in a safer way as well for both patients by
the clinicians as well.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
MP Chris Picton speaking with Jackie limb Or. Living in
regional areas can mean urgently needed medical care is often
hours away, but as our Riveland journalist Lucky Winnall explains,
there is a solution.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
Aircraft have shortened this up which is very fortunate for
those who live in outback Australia. A local council is
doing their bit, working proactively to make sure that aircraft
can land safely and transport those needing medical care to
where they need to go in a timely fashion. Mayor
of the Loxton Wacery Council, Trevor Norton joins us, how
(05:05):
is COUNTSL working to achieve this.
Speaker 6 (05:07):
We're in Loxton Wakery Council. We have an airport at
Wakeri and an airport at Loxton and we make sure
that both of those airports are up to scratch so
that they can have some medical evacuations if required. Because
the riverland has a major RFDS base at Remat, but
that is forty k's away from Loxton and even further
(05:30):
from Wakeriy, over one hundred from Wakeri, and each of
the hospitals in Loxton and Very Regional Hospital has a helipad.
But at times we need to make sure that the
Loxton Airport is available for rfds.
Speaker 5 (05:44):
And obviously we know that maintenance and upgrades happened, so
they can be from time to time when an airport
and an airstrip can't be used. So I guess to
that point further, it's crucial that there's multiple options.
Speaker 6 (05:55):
Yeah, there is absolutely Locherlan and Loxton in particular services
the Mali or the Lower Mallee as well as the
Rivalion part of our region, and sometimes that's a bit
further away Pinery Lammer, even further away from Remark or
the Very Regional Hospital. So what we've done at Lockson
is we've sealed the access to the airport to make
(06:18):
it a lot safer and a lot better access for
ambulances to the airport.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
And just to a point are raised earlier. Councils do
a lot of things, and health and aviation are two
things that you're not directly involved in but on the
health front, how is council's I guess your council the
Low Loxton Way Council, but just in general working with
health officials to lead to greater health outcomes.
Speaker 6 (06:46):
We keep a very good liaison with our health officials,
with SA Health and also with our local hospitals through
our hospital advisory committees where there's one in Loxton which
we have represented on and one in Wakeri where a
councilor one of our councilor is actually chair of the
wakery Health Advisory Committee.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
What's one big thing that the council is trying to
help health with is that maybe attracting more staff to
the area or accommodation or whatever it might be.
Speaker 6 (07:13):
Well it is it's doctors, doctors, doctors and doctors, and
then without doctors you can't manage, you can't run a hospital.
And I know the Loxton Hospital and the Wakeriy Hospital
are both run by the local medical practices, which means
they're medical practices and the doctors that live there and
operate operate that not Essay Health. If they weren't there,
(07:35):
that would refer back to Essay Health and services could
be diminished.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
Mayor Trevor Orton Lockston Make Council. Thanks for joining us,
You're welcome.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
After the break, the AMA's view on one of the
big problems facing healthcare in Australia, and a heartwarming chat
with a volunteer who's helping to humanize our medical system.
I heart essay, I heart essay, Welcome back. This week
I heard Essay is looking at the state of healthcare
(08:05):
in regional South Australia, what's getting better and what needs fixing.
Associate Professor Peter Subermannium is a senior consulted vascular surgeon
and the president of the South Australian branch of the
Australian Medical Association. He says, one of the big issues
is the fragmentation of our healthcare system.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
You go to the general practitioner, you get some initial
tests done, you get referred to as specialists specialists maybe
in the public system, maybe in the private system, the
specialist teams. You need hospitalization for a procedure or for
more tests or for treatment, and then you either line
(08:46):
up in the public hospital system depending on the severity,
or if you are in short you go into the
private health system. If you're an elderly patient, you finish
all of that and then you might need a period
of rehabilitation or sometimes you are not able to go
home and you need to go into an age share facility.
So you see that patient journey, which I've just described
(09:09):
takes us from commonwealth funded systems to public or private
health systems which are separately funded, back into the Commonwealth system.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Yeah, and there's also I guess the perpetual issue of
insufficient staff. How does that impact on regional healthcare PATA.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
So the issue isn't building a Royal Athlete hospital in Wyla.
Certainly we can't afford to do that and that wouldn't
make sense given the number of people who live in
the country. What we focus on is delivering appropriate access.
So what we're saying is that if you lived in
Anli or Lenango, one of our inner suburbs, your access
(09:48):
to appropriate care in the appropriate time frame should be
the same if you lived in Saduna, Wila, a Port
pie Potogaster. Geographic location shouldn't impact on your access. Now,
certainly there will be travel, there will be distances, and
those things are to be factored in, but your access
(10:09):
to the appropriate care you need shouldn't be associated with
your postcode. How do we do that. We integrate the system,
We get the system to work as a system, not
as regional or not as metro, and we create the
connections for our patients so that they get to see
the specialists, whether it be in a regional clinic or
(10:32):
whether it be down here in Adelaide in the appropriate timeframe.
We reduce the complexity and we make it simpler for patients.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
It all sounds great, Peter super Marim, and I guess
it's an ideal that most people would support, but I
guess there are realities in Australian politics that might make
this a fairly tough road ahead for you.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
What we are trying to do is we're trying to
actually take healthcare management out of politics, but unfortunately healthcare
is a key political issue. I think what we need
to do is to have an intelligent, a political discussion
about where we put our resources. Our resources are finite
(11:13):
help guests, costing us more and more because we're able
to do more and more technological advanced things while patients.
But we do have to make some choices, and I
think the community needs to be involved in those decisions,
not politicians.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Associate Professor Peter Suba Mariam, who is President of AMA
South Australia. Now there is some positive news on the
medical workforce front, with a number of doctors undertaking GP
training in Regional South Australia at a three year high.
Nearly two hundred second, third and fourth year registrars are
currently undertaking their general practice and Regional Generalists training in
(11:52):
the regions of our state. Another forty one first year
trainees are currently employed by local health networks also in SA.
It's all built around the single Employer model or SEM,
which has been trialed in the Riverland since twenty twenty
three and is now being expanded to all local health
networks in South Australia. It's capable of supporting as many
(12:14):
as sixty trainees. Doctor JANEA. Shelton, who is taking part
in the Riverland Academy of Clinical Excellence program also known
as RACE and spoke to Lockie.
Speaker 5 (12:25):
Win All doctor great to have you on board for
a quick chat. Tell us what drew you to the
RACE program?
Speaker 7 (12:32):
So I heard about it when the RACE program was
initiated back in twenty twenty two, during which I was
in my final year of medical school. So I didn't
hear a single bad word, and so I have to
go check this out for myself. So signed up and
joined the group at twenty twenty three in my first
year out.
Speaker 8 (12:49):
Of medical school.
Speaker 5 (12:50):
It's great to hear more doctors thinking about a career
in regional South Australia and Australia for that matter. What
was different about this program compared to what happened in
the past.
Speaker 7 (13:01):
Certainly in the past there's been lots of opportunities for
rural medical placements throughout university, but there was very limited
options for experiencing rural medicine as a first year junior doctor.
So I think there was a program that was initiated
elsewhere in Australia and the river Land went yep, let's
catch on to that, we need to increase our rural
(13:22):
doctor numbers. And they worked out that some of the
key opportunities for students in the rural areas were just
not extended out for their first years as doctors, so
they were instead putting down routes in Adelaide or in
the center of down and not then venturing out to
rural medicine, even if they had the best of intentions.
Speaker 5 (13:40):
Throughout UNI, and I'm guessing doctor Shelton that doctors in
regional South Australia would face a number of unique challenges
each day, and I guess one of those would be
the variety of jobs on any given day.
Speaker 7 (13:52):
Absolutely, there's a lot of variety in medicine that we
get to do out here, particularly because sort of breadth
of specialties is some what limited. So instead of being
a patient in general practice and sending them off to
a specialist every time there's something that's slightly out of
the norm, that becomes the rural general practice norm, and
we are able to be supported in training to actually
(14:13):
develop extra skills, for example in skin cancer medicine or
extra obstrics and gynecology, so that we can better serve
our rural community without having to send them back and
forth to Adelaide.
Speaker 5 (14:24):
So for those of us that aren't in the medical world,
what is the SEM the single employer model.
Speaker 7 (14:30):
So instead of needing a separate contract to work in
a private practice, for example a GP clinic and then
a public hospital contract, I've been able to continue on
with my general practice or rural generalism training whilst staying
on the very same contract I started with back in
twenty twenty three, despite working full time in a GP clinic.
Speaker 5 (14:48):
At the moment, and before we wrap up, I guess
those doing year twelve or maybe even embarking on some
early university studies, you wouldn't have a bad word to
say about the Riverlande Academy of Clinical Ects, Lens or
race program.
Speaker 7 (15:01):
No, absolutely not. I think that that was what initially
drew me to the program, that I only had good things.
And truly the support that I've had since I moved
out here has only continued my interest in room medicine,
and I felt really supported. It doesn't make sense to
go anywhere else at the moment.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
There is one other aspect of our medical system that
we haven't touched on so far today, and that's the
communities that provide them with essential support, offering a human
face at zero cost. At the age of eighty one,
Willie wheeden Hoffer is still hand making comfort teddies for
child patients at Bury Hospital. She estimates she's donated more
(15:38):
than five hundred of the teddies over the last decade.
Speaker 8 (15:41):
Little kids go to an emergency, you know, and the
traumatize and everything, and that's they give them a Teddy
just coming down and I love it.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Yeah? What started you on this path?
Speaker 8 (15:54):
Well started off when I transferred to the Bury Lions Club.
There was a woman that was still not then and
she had trouble keeping up sort of thing, and I said,
I'm not knitting, I can help out. And that's how
it started.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
And how long does it take you to make a bear?
And how long does it take you to get a
bag together?
Speaker 8 (16:12):
I can do a bear in a couple of days.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
How many would be in a bag?
Speaker 8 (16:16):
Oh around about twenty five to thirty?
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Wow, that's a lot of work. That would that be
easily a month's work?
Speaker 8 (16:22):
Oh? Easy?
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Yeah?
Speaker 8 (16:23):
Since I gave the last bag to the hospital, I've
got ten here finished now just for people. All I've
got so I'll just I'll just make them up.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Have you ever been there when one of the kids
has been given one of your bears?
Speaker 8 (16:38):
I've got response afterwards the kids, the parents tell me
one of them every time he hurts himself, he's got
to have doctor ted You know, child's got a broken arm,
but they put the sling on the Tedy's arm just
to be the same.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Oh that's awesome, it isn't it? Sorry?
Speaker 8 (17:00):
That's great.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
How long do you think you can keep producing teddies?
Speaker 8 (17:04):
Oh? I don't know, but I'll keep doing as long
as I can. I mean, I maybe one.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Now, what's your favorite thing about the Bears? How does
it make you feel.
Speaker 8 (17:14):
Every time I finish it? Teddy, and I'll think, ah,
does another child be happy? I love doing it.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
And that's it for now. I Heart Essay will be
back next week with more of the stories you want
to hear.
Speaker 8 (17:27):
I Heart Essay.
iHeart Essays. Hello and welcome to iHeart Essay. I'm Robert Clennan.
Hospitals are never far from the media spotlight, and for
good reason. Public health and whether the system's actually healthy
is a subject that's always up for debate, especially here
in Essay. Australian hospitals are recognized as being among the
best in the world, at least in the big cities,
(00:23):
where highly skilled staff and the latest tech are never
far away. It can be a different story though, for
those living outside the capitals, where scattered populations make it
harder to attract doctors and tough choices need to be
made about where expensive medical equipment is best located.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Yeah, in South Australia, I think we have a population
of one million one point four living Adelaide and the
rest lived across this vast, beautiful state of ours.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
That's the president of the AMA in South Australia, Professor
Peter Siromanium and will he more from him shortly. Despite
the difficulties of distance, progress is being made with a
spate of positive health announcements focused on regional say in
the last week or so. They include an increase in
the number of trainee doctors, better accessibility to aerial patient transport, and,
(01:13):
as MP Chris Picton told Jackie Limb, the return of
a much needed service for people living on the air Peninsula.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
This is incredibly exciting to have the Wiler birthing services
back up and running and now having delivered services for
the past year is a relief for the town and
it's a really vital service which is now much improved.
This is meaning women and families in the Wiler region
now have certainty that they can have their babies at
(01:40):
Wyler Hospital in a really new part of a hospital
that's been updated with new midwiffery team on board who
are delivering excellent care.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Yeah, definitely, so one baby born every three days is
about the statistic. So it was closed for quite a
period there though, there was no birthing services at Wyale
and so we had to go through several inquiries and
get all sorts of different people involved in trying to
figure out how the best way to proceed was. But
obviously that's done the trick.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
If you look around the country, there's a lot of
examples where berthing services have temporarily closed and then they've
never reopened. And we were absolutely determined, so that not
happened in Wyler, but it has been a lot of work,
a lot of recruitment, a lot of change in terms
of how these services are happening, and it's meant that
those services are now being delivered consistently high quality and
(02:30):
we can see with those one hundred and twenty babies born,
what a difference it's made to the community.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Not having to travel as well, you know, going up
to kim but going to Portagasta, even going to Adelaide
a weight off a lot of expectant mother's shoulders.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Well, the travel is a big impact and we have
a huge desire to see a vibrant future for Wiler
and having important health services like birthing is a key
part of the future of Wiler.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Pretty cool statistic as well, pretty even split with boys
and girls coming into the world there as well, which
is kind of cute.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
It is cute to see that the roughly even boys
and girls coming to the Wiler community.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
The Portagasta ed got some work going on, should be
wrapping up in the next three four months, is that correct.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
We're upgrading a lot of hospitals across the state, and
Port Augusta is one of those. Critically, the emergency department
is being upgraded and that's going to deliver important safety
upgrades and clinical upgrades. That's going to deliver a better
outcome for both clinicians who work there and the patients
who need those services, And.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
So what works exactly are going on at the moment.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
There's a lot of works happening in terms of how
the waiting room and reception area will work, as well
as making sure that we've got a better environment for
staff and patients and a better streamline experience for patients
coming through the emergency department as well. It going to
be a monitored bed. Refurbishment will include a new on
suite and anti room which will help the hospital better
(03:56):
manage patients with infectious diseases as well. Importantly as well,
there's a new security screening area at the front entrance.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
It is a little bit of a labyrinth when you
get in there, it's a little bit hard to know
where to turn, so hoping that that's a little bit
more straightforward for people in the future.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Then the clinicians who work at Portagusta Hospital do an
incredible job, but it's not the best layout for those
services at the moment, and so we're hopeful that this
nine million dollar upgrade is going to enable them to
be able to deliver that care in a better way,
in a safer way as well for both patients by
the clinicians as well.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
MP Chris Picton speaking with Jackie limb Or. Living in
regional areas can mean urgently needed medical care is often
hours away, but as our Riveland journalist Lucky Winnall explains,
there is a solution.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
Aircraft have shortened this up which is very fortunate for
those who live in outback Australia. A local council is
doing their bit, working proactively to make sure that aircraft
can land safely and transport those needing medical care to
where they need to go in a timely fashion. Mayor
of the Loxton Wacery Council, Trevor Norton joins us, how
(05:05):
is COUNTSL working to achieve this.
Speaker 6 (05:07):
We're in Loxton Wakery Council. We have an airport at
Wakeri and an airport at Loxton and we make sure
that both of those airports are up to scratch so
that they can have some medical evacuations if required. Because
the riverland has a major RFDS base at Remat, but
that is forty k's away from Loxton and even further
(05:30):
from Wakeriy, over one hundred from Wakeri, and each of
the hospitals in Loxton and Very Regional Hospital has a helipad.
But at times we need to make sure that the
Loxton Airport is available for rfds.
Speaker 5 (05:44):
And obviously we know that maintenance and upgrades happened, so
they can be from time to time when an airport
and an airstrip can't be used. So I guess to
that point further, it's crucial that there's multiple options.
Speaker 6 (05:55):
Yeah, there is absolutely Locherlan and Loxton in particular services
the Mali or the Lower Mallee as well as the
Rivalion part of our region, and sometimes that's a bit
further away Pinery Lammer, even further away from Remark or
the Very Regional Hospital. So what we've done at Lockson
is we've sealed the access to the airport to make
(06:18):
it a lot safer and a lot better access for
ambulances to the airport.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
And just to a point are raised earlier. Councils do
a lot of things, and health and aviation are two
things that you're not directly involved in but on the
health front, how is council's I guess your council the
Low Loxton Way Council, but just in general working with
health officials to lead to greater health outcomes.
Speaker 6 (06:46):
We keep a very good liaison with our health officials,
with SA Health and also with our local hospitals through
our hospital advisory committees where there's one in Loxton which
we have represented on and one in Wakeri where a
councilor one of our councilor is actually chair of the
wakery Health Advisory Committee.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
What's one big thing that the council is trying to
help health with is that maybe attracting more staff to
the area or accommodation or whatever it might be.
Speaker 6 (07:13):
Well it is it's doctors, doctors, doctors and doctors, and
then without doctors you can't manage, you can't run a hospital.
And I know the Loxton Hospital and the Wakeriy Hospital
are both run by the local medical practices, which means
they're medical practices and the doctors that live there and
operate operate that not Essay Health. If they weren't there,
(07:35):
that would refer back to Essay Health and services could
be diminished.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
Mayor Trevor Orton Lockston Make Council. Thanks for joining us,
You're welcome.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
After the break, the AMA's view on one of the
big problems facing healthcare in Australia, and a heartwarming chat
with a volunteer who's helping to humanize our medical system.
I heart essay, I heart essay, Welcome back. This week
I heard Essay is looking at the state of healthcare
(08:05):
in regional South Australia, what's getting better and what needs fixing.
Associate Professor Peter Subermannium is a senior consulted vascular surgeon
and the president of the South Australian branch of the
Australian Medical Association. He says, one of the big issues
is the fragmentation of our healthcare system.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
You go to the general practitioner, you get some initial
tests done, you get referred to as specialists specialists maybe
in the public system, maybe in the private system, the
specialist teams. You need hospitalization for a procedure or for
more tests or for treatment, and then you either line
(08:46):
up in the public hospital system depending on the severity,
or if you are in short you go into the
private health system. If you're an elderly patient, you finish
all of that and then you might need a period
of rehabilitation or sometimes you are not able to go
home and you need to go into an age share facility.
So you see that patient journey, which I've just described
(09:09):
takes us from commonwealth funded systems to public or private
health systems which are separately funded, back into the Commonwealth system.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Yeah, and there's also I guess the perpetual issue of
insufficient staff. How does that impact on regional healthcare PATA.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
So the issue isn't building a Royal Athlete hospital in Wyla.
Certainly we can't afford to do that and that wouldn't
make sense given the number of people who live in
the country. What we focus on is delivering appropriate access.
So what we're saying is that if you lived in
Anli or Lenango, one of our inner suburbs, your access
(09:48):
to appropriate care in the appropriate time frame should be
the same if you lived in Saduna, Wila, a Port
pie Potogaster. Geographic location shouldn't impact on your access. Now,
certainly there will be travel, there will be distances, and
those things are to be factored in, but your access
(10:09):
to the appropriate care you need shouldn't be associated with
your postcode. How do we do that. We integrate the system,
We get the system to work as a system, not
as regional or not as metro, and we create the
connections for our patients so that they get to see
the specialists, whether it be in a regional clinic or
(10:32):
whether it be down here in Adelaide in the appropriate timeframe.
We reduce the complexity and we make it simpler for patients.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
It all sounds great, Peter super Marim, and I guess
it's an ideal that most people would support, but I
guess there are realities in Australian politics that might make
this a fairly tough road ahead for you.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
What we are trying to do is we're trying to
actually take healthcare management out of politics, but unfortunately healthcare
is a key political issue. I think what we need
to do is to have an intelligent, a political discussion
about where we put our resources. Our resources are finite
(11:13):
help guests, costing us more and more because we're able
to do more and more technological advanced things while patients.
But we do have to make some choices, and I
think the community needs to be involved in those decisions,
not politicians.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Associate Professor Peter Suba Mariam, who is President of AMA
South Australia. Now there is some positive news on the
medical workforce front, with a number of doctors undertaking GP
training in Regional South Australia at a three year high.
Nearly two hundred second, third and fourth year registrars are
currently undertaking their general practice and Regional Generalists training in
(11:52):
the regions of our state. Another forty one first year
trainees are currently employed by local health networks also in SA.
It's all built around the single Employer model or SEM,
which has been trialed in the Riverland since twenty twenty
three and is now being expanded to all local health
networks in South Australia. It's capable of supporting as many
(12:14):
as sixty trainees. Doctor JANEA. Shelton, who is taking part
in the Riverland Academy of Clinical Excellence program also known
as RACE and spoke to Lockie.
Speaker 5 (12:25):
Win All doctor great to have you on board for
a quick chat. Tell us what drew you to the
RACE program?
Speaker 7 (12:32):
So I heard about it when the RACE program was
initiated back in twenty twenty two, during which I was
in my final year of medical school. So I didn't
hear a single bad word, and so I have to
go check this out for myself. So signed up and
joined the group at twenty twenty three in my first
year out.
Speaker 8 (12:49):
Of medical school.
Speaker 5 (12:50):
It's great to hear more doctors thinking about a career
in regional South Australia and Australia for that matter. What
was different about this program compared to what happened in
the past.
Speaker 7 (13:01):
Certainly in the past there's been lots of opportunities for
rural medical placements throughout university, but there was very limited
options for experiencing rural medicine as a first year junior doctor.
So I think there was a program that was initiated
elsewhere in Australia and the river Land went yep, let's
catch on to that, we need to increase our rural
(13:22):
doctor numbers. And they worked out that some of the
key opportunities for students in the rural areas were just
not extended out for their first years as doctors, so
they were instead putting down routes in Adelaide or in
the center of down and not then venturing out to
rural medicine, even if they had the best of intentions.
Speaker 5 (13:40):
Throughout UNI, and I'm guessing doctor Shelton that doctors in
regional South Australia would face a number of unique challenges
each day, and I guess one of those would be
the variety of jobs on any given day.
Speaker 7 (13:52):
Absolutely, there's a lot of variety in medicine that we
get to do out here, particularly because sort of breadth
of specialties is some what limited. So instead of being
a patient in general practice and sending them off to
a specialist every time there's something that's slightly out of
the norm, that becomes the rural general practice norm, and
we are able to be supported in training to actually
(14:13):
develop extra skills, for example in skin cancer medicine or
extra obstrics and gynecology, so that we can better serve
our rural community without having to send them back and
forth to Adelaide.
Speaker 5 (14:24):
So for those of us that aren't in the medical world,
what is the SEM the single employer model.
Speaker 7 (14:30):
So instead of needing a separate contract to work in
a private practice, for example a GP clinic and then
a public hospital contract, I've been able to continue on
with my general practice or rural generalism training whilst staying
on the very same contract I started with back in
twenty twenty three, despite working full time in a GP clinic.
Speaker 5 (14:48):
At the moment, and before we wrap up, I guess
those doing year twelve or maybe even embarking on some
early university studies, you wouldn't have a bad word to
say about the Riverlande Academy of Clinical Ects, Lens or
race program.
Speaker 7 (15:01):
No, absolutely not. I think that that was what initially
drew me to the program, that I only had good things.
And truly the support that I've had since I moved
out here has only continued my interest in room medicine,
and I felt really supported. It doesn't make sense to
go anywhere else at the moment.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
There is one other aspect of our medical system that
we haven't touched on so far today, and that's the
communities that provide them with essential support, offering a human
face at zero cost. At the age of eighty one,
Willie wheeden Hoffer is still hand making comfort teddies for
child patients at Bury Hospital. She estimates she's donated more
(15:38):
than five hundred of the teddies over the last decade.
Speaker 8 (15:41):
Little kids go to an emergency, you know, and the
traumatize and everything, and that's they give them a Teddy
just coming down and I love it.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Yeah? What started you on this path?
Speaker 8 (15:54):
Well started off when I transferred to the Bury Lions Club.
There was a woman that was still not then and
she had trouble keeping up sort of thing, and I said,
I'm not knitting, I can help out. And that's how
it started.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
And how long does it take you to make a bear?
And how long does it take you to get a
bag together?
Speaker 8 (16:12):
I can do a bear in a couple of days.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
How many would be in a bag?
Speaker 8 (16:16):
Oh around about twenty five to thirty?
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Wow, that's a lot of work. That would that be
easily a month's work?
Speaker 8 (16:22):
Oh? Easy?
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Yeah?
Speaker 8 (16:23):
Since I gave the last bag to the hospital, I've
got ten here finished now just for people. All I've
got so I'll just I'll just make them up.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Have you ever been there when one of the kids
has been given one of your bears?
Speaker 8 (16:38):
I've got response afterwards the kids, the parents tell me
one of them every time he hurts himself, he's got
to have doctor ted You know, child's got a broken arm,
but they put the sling on the Tedy's arm just
to be the same.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Oh that's awesome, it isn't it? Sorry?
Speaker 8 (17:00):
That's great.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
How long do you think you can keep producing teddies?
Speaker 8 (17:04):
Oh? I don't know, but I'll keep doing as long
as I can. I mean, I maybe one.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Now, what's your favorite thing about the Bears? How does
it make you feel.
Speaker 8 (17:14):
Every time I finish it? Teddy, and I'll think, ah,
does another child be happy? I love doing it.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
And that's it for now. I Heart Essay will be
back next week with more of the stories you want
to hear.
Speaker 8 (17:27):
I Heart Essay.
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