Anonymous
My personal experience:
I have been employed as part of the NTER.
On my first trip to a remote community, I saw an 18 year old man with a cleft lip and palate that had not been repaired and who had not received any speech pathology intervention. His coping mechanisms were to grow a moustache and, not surprisingly, he didn’t talk to me. I use this example to demonstrate the lack of primary and allied health services for people living in remote communities. In making a case for more allied health professionals to be involved in the NTER, please consider why is there an 18 year old with a cleft lip and palate who hasn’t received speech pathology intervention living in Australia.
Working within the NTER system, I have experienced:
- Lack of management
- Lack of direction
- Lack of support
- Lack of team environment
- Lack of professional respect and consultation
- Lack of communication
- Lack of a job position description
- Lack of speech pathology inclusion as part of the ENT and audiology team
- Strong focus on medical based model of service delivery with little planning around developing a model of service delivery for sustainable rehabilitation and allied health services.
Responses to some of the specific questions asked of the NTER review board are below:
1. What isn’t working?
- Effective and sustainable delivery of allied health services.
My observations have been a lack of:
-
Global planning and structure.
-
Sustainable model of service delivery.
-
Consultation and communication by the NTER.
- With communities
- With other health professionals and agencies eg. Alice Springs Hospital
- With people employed by the NTER.
- Allied health services for people living on remote communities.
2. Will NTER lay the basis for a sustainable and better future for residents of remote communities and town camps in the NT?
Unlikely as there hasn’t been a priority on working together to produce a sustainable model of health service delivery that includes an allied health and education service for the future. More allied health professionals are needed working in multidisciplinary teams with adequate levels of management and support to achieve a sustainable and better future for residents of remote communities and town camps in the NT. Longer contracts or permanent positions for allied health staff also need to be offered.
3. What alternative measures should be considered?
- Increased consultation with local communities.
- Increased communication with other agencies eg. Alice Springs Hospital.
- Global planning and communication of proposed model for comment by key agents.
- Increased numbers and involvement of allied health professionals.
- Increased funding for allied health professionals and resources.
- Working in multidisciplinary teams.
- Increased support for health professionals.
- Long term and permanent positions for allied health professionals.
4. Are there other ways of working that would better address the circumstances facing remote communities and town camps?
- Increased consultation with people living on remote communities and town camps.
- Working in a cohesive multidisciplinary team with a global planning structure in place.
- Increasing communication and consultation with all agencies involved including communities.
- Utilising all agencies, including the education system, to create sustainable
change.