A Canberra company has won a tender to offer a program which gives health professionals from metropolitan areas like the ACT the opportunity to work in remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory.
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Aspen Medical was awarded the four-year $19.7 million contract for its subsidiary the Remote Area Health Corps to deploy GPs, nurses and other health professionals to remote communities to address shortcomings in primary healthcare.
Aspen Medical co-founder and executive director Glenn Keys said the placements had benefits for both the health workers and the communities.
The health workers include GPs, registered nurses, midwives, dentists, dental therapists, dental assistants, audiologists and physiotherapists.
"They (the workers) might have been sitting there in a city, used to seeing the standard health conditions that a metropolitan person might face whereas now they're seeing a whole range of remote conditions ... that they might have only heard about when they went to medical school and now they'll be able to learn those skills and practically see them" he said.
"It also supports the health professionals who are already there, so rather than there being only one person and there's gaps for two or three, by us filling any of those gaps, it means the workload is better spread which means the chances of that health professional who is already there staying, increases dramatically," he said.
Dr Jill Bestic, a Canberra GP who recently completed 10 years as a senior lecturer with the Australian National University medical school, has spent about 26 weeks in the territory with the program.
"I just wanted to get involved in Indigenous health," she said.
"The benefits to me are enormous. It's really interesting, it's a real privilege to go into remote communities, it's incredibly challenging, it's incredibly scary work sometimes because you're always questioning whether you're upskilled enough to deal with unexpected things.
"I hope that by putting in solid, stable health professionals, one would hope that it will contribute to positive outcomes in health for individuals.
"If I can provide sound, solid health provision to the person in front of me, then that's my aim."
Mr Keys said the Remote Area Health Corps (RAHC) recruited, culturally and clinically orientated health professionals before their placements.
RAHC has provided more 3500 placements in 100 NT communities since it was established in 2008.
About 80 per cent of the healthcare workers have done repeat placements.
