HealthShare NSW innovation reaches remote communities
Date published: 19 May 2023
Author: Kylie Sammut
Patients in the state’s north west will now save several hours in travel time to reach essential medical imaging, thanks to an innovative mobile CT scanner design developed by our Procurement and Supply Chain team.
Today NSW Minister for Health Ryan Park and representatives from Western NSW Local Health District officially launched the new purpose built CT imaging vehicle in Walgett, and HealthShare NSW is proud to see the project come to fruition.
‘HealthShare NSW’s category managers, Nick Kapsimallis and David Brown, have intimate working knowledge of CT scanners and have been working in the industry for many years,’ said Susie Giddey, Associate Director of Category Management in the Procurement and Supply Chain team of HealthShare NSW.
‘We are thrilled their expertise was able to make the LHD’s vision a reality and bring specialised care to their patients in hard to reach places.’
The project, years in the making, involved HealthShare NSW working closely with WNSWLHD on special specifications of what the vehicle would look like, how they wanted it to operate, and what technology was needed.
CT – or computed tomography – takes detailed images of internal organs, bones, soft tissues and blood vessels. The ground-breaking service will begin welcoming patients in the coming weeks, and is expected to see around 1,500 per year as it rotates between Walgett, Bourke and Cobar. It will be used for non-emergency patients to help diagnose causes of pain from muscles and joints, detect disease or prepare patients for treatment or surgery.
‘The truck has a bed lifter to transfer patients in beds or wheelchairs and we’ve ensured each hospital site in the mobile CT’s rotation has had significant power, data and parking upgrades so the van’s functions are the same as a fixed service,’ said James Harvey, General Manager of WNSWLHD Imaging Services.
A radiographer will oversee and run the service along with other health staff including radiologists and Aboriginal Health Workers.
NSW Minister for Health Ryan Park said bringing these specialist services closer to people’s homes was tremendously important to remove disincentives to accessing health care.
‘Having the Remote Mobile CT Service at their doorstep will help many patients avoid hours on the road, some of them up to 10-hour round trips to Dubbo, to have scans,’ said Mr Park.
‘It will also be a huge benefit as we continue improving health outcomes among our Aboriginal communities.
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