So, I'm here with the Federal Minister for Regional Health, Mark Coulton, and my state ministerial colleague, Minister for Mental Health, Bronnie Taylor, and of course Dugald Saunders who's the local MP.
And we are here today to celebrate a program of Telestroke Health. What we have found is that around about 14-15,000 people a year suffer a stroke in New South Wales, and about 32 per cent of those each year are from the regions. It's so important that we enable doctors and patients to address the stroke symptoms as soon as possible. And the quicker we can get a stroke patient to a specialist who can diagnose the stroke, and to make sure that the thrombolytic drugs are administered, and then eventually the clot removal is undertaken - is absolutely crucial to the outcome.
So, the New South Wales Government and the Federal Government have joined together in a $21.7 million programme, which is now being rolled out to seven hospitals, and will eventually be rolled out to all hospitals across the state to ensure that people can actually receive world class drug treatment.
This is an example of Telehealth and virtual health. Now, often we find that there are not the specialist physicians available to actually diagnose and treat stroke; it's a highly specialised area.
So, to be able to have a service like this here at Dubbo does make a huge difference for the community, it also makes a difference for the regional community who can get here from the hundreds of kilometres around - obviously, we want them to get here fairly quickly.
But once the diagnosis is undertaken, the way it works is the local neurologist gets the various images done, those images are sent to a specialist in stroke care at any of the major hospitals across the state, and then the advice is given as to what treatment should be given.
There is no delay whilst they're in this particular hospital. So, it's a great outcome for the region, and I think it will be a very effective tool to keep many, many people having lives that are entirely the lives they want, rather than necessarily having a life with disability issues.
The single biggest issue, of course, here is that if you have a stroke and it's not treated, there's a very high chance you may end up with a permanent disability - this changes that dynamic completely. You can have a stroke, you get fast treatment with experts, no matter where they are in the state, who know how to deal with stroke, and the treatment is administered quickly. If need be, you're then transferred by your ambulance quickly to one of the major facilities who are highly specialised in the clot removal [indistinct].
We're going to ask Mark Coulton to say a few words, particularly from the regional health perspective, as he is the Minister for Regional Health. And then I'll ask Bronnie Taylor and Dugald Saunders to say a few words.
MARK COULTON:
Thanks. Great to be here with Minister Hazzard, Minister Bronnie Taylor and my fellow local Member Dugald Saunders.
This is a great example of Federal and State Governments working together to come up with the solution of a very, very serious problem.
For regional Australians, getting that timely treatment for stroke has, in the past, led to second rate outcomes. And so, being able to get that advice early on is really important.
It's also important that people are aware of the first aid for stroke, and are aware of that.
I'd like to congratulate my state colleagues on this wonderful construction. Anyone that's been in Dubbo for more than a decade would know how far this town has come, and this centre will be a service for, not only Dubbo, but for the entire Western region. And just over the back is the cancer centre of which we are also partnering in, which is very exciting for the community.
But just on a broader range of the use of Telehealth. Telehealth is a wonderful add on for the people that we have here on the ground.
And as you may know, the Federal Government has rolled out, very quickly, Telehealth to cover the COVID crisis, and we've had more than 30 million consultations for more than 10 million Australians during this COVID process.
And then, post-COVID, we will be refining this process so that Telehealth will be such a valuable tool for clinicians right across Australia to get the best outcomes for the patients that are needed.
And this is a great example of where technology is a wonderful add on to the skills of the people that are here in Dubbo, connected to people who are absolutely top specialists, someone else who can give that crucial advice in a timely manner.
But, well done to Minister Hazzard and his team, and I'm very pleased that the Commonwealth has contributed $9.4 million to this programme.
So, I'll hand over now to my friend Bronnie Taylor.
BRONNIE TAYLOR:
Thanks very much, Mark.
Look, it's just really tremendous to be here today with my colleagues, and also with Dugald Saunders in Dubbo.
Look, I was a registered nurse for 20 years before I entered Parliament, and when I see things like today it really makes my heart sing.
I think it's incredible to see the specialists talking from Dubbo to Sydney - talking about reading the scans in real time.
Being able to meet a delightful person who you'll be speaking to next that's actually been through this process, who's had a really positive health outcome.
What it's all about is making sure that we get the right service at the right time to people that need it most.
And as Mark Coulton said, this is an add-on.
It's an extra thing but it just makes our rural and regional health services better. It makes them more real time. And look, as a nurse, I just think it's absolutely tremendous to see the look on the clinicians' faces to be working in what's going to be a magnificent new building. This is a really great, great day for rural and regional health. And I'll hand over to [indistinct] now.
DUGALD SANDERS:
Thank you. Look, it's great to have Bronnie as our Mental Health Minister, Mark Coulton, our Regional Health Minister and Member for Parkes, and of course, the Health Minister, Brad Hazzard, here today.
We've just seen a demonstration of what telestroke is all about.
We've witnessed what technology can actually do as far as a fast diagnosis and recognition of what needs to be done. I am just thrilled that that is now in Dubbo Hospital.
It's obviously a hospital and services, not just Dubbo, but also the entire greater Western region and even some to the east. It is the capital of western New South Wales. It needs and deserves this sort of technology. It's great that this is one of the pilot sites.
As we've heard, Nickeah, who's behind me, is somebody who's benefited from exactly this, and we'll hear from Nickeah in a moment about her experience. But it's about getting the treatment as soon as possible in the best possible way with the best possible specialists, and that's what this telestroke program will enable and I'm thrilled that it's here in Dubbo.
I'm also thrilled that today we're actually having a regional bilateral health forum based in Dubbo which is something I'd spoken to the Health Minister about, and it's now here.
So this will be a great chance for stakeholders on regional health issues to come together and talk about it in the centre of New South Wales, here in Dubbo.
So I thank the Minister again for making that happen. I think the regional health scenario is one that we need to be looking at and focusing on a lot, and that's exactly why we're having that today. And I'm looking forward to some of the amazing outcomes that are driven out of out of this bilateral health reform today.
