00:00In the skies over regional Australia, medical help is on the way.
00:06Hopeton on WA's south coast has a population of about 1,000 people,
00:10but a shortage of medical specialists mean some patients are travelling hundreds of kilometres for treatment.
00:16Esperance, which is about two and a half hours away, or to go to Albany, which is around four hours drive, to do OT and speak.
00:23Now a new model of care means treatment is available at home.
00:27In this aeroplane, most of the time we're taking an occupational therapist, a speech therapist as well,
00:32sometimes physios and psychologists as well.
00:35It massively cuts down on the travel time for the clinicians,
00:38allowing them to have a larger caseload and spend more time on the ground with our client.
00:42The FIFO Health Service travels to 45 towns across Australia,
00:46offering a range of services from paniatry to psychology, and it's seeing results.
00:51You've developed the rapport, the connections, and the children obviously also have a stronger connection as well.
00:58The service is free for NDIS participants who make up 75% of patients,
01:03while private patients must pay a gap fee, but experts say some are missing out.
01:08They only see a very, very small percentage of the community.
01:13I'm talking like 1% or 2% when there is a much, much greater untapped need.
01:21If we could get a little bit more funding, either from state government or local government, that would be fantastic.
01:26The federal government says it's spending $24 million to trial new care models
01:31to improve staffing and access to services in regional areas,
01:35but residents say those services aren't meeting the demand.
01:38There are so many towns that need services that don't have them.
01:42There are rural communities looking to the skies for help.
Comments