Hon Peter Dunne
Associate Minister of Health

25 August 2016 Speech

Opening of Aeromedical Society Australasia Conference
Millennium Hotel, Queenstown
Thursday, 25 August 2016

Good morning and kiaora koutou.

Thank you, Tony for your introduction.

I was honoured to receive the invitation from the Aeromedical Society of Australasia (ASA) and the College of Air & Surface Transport Nurses (COASTN) to open this year’s annual conference.

A very warm welcome to those visiting from overseas – I understand we have visitors here from Germany, the USA, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and of course a strong Australian contingent.

It is a great pleasure to be here speaking to you, not only as Associate Health Minister, but also as someone who has a close relationship with the aeromedical sector.

As Associate Health Minister with responsibility for ambulance services, I naturally have a keen interest in aeromedical services, which play a key role in improving health, particularly for those who are more acutely unwell.

I have huge respect for the competency and attitude required to provide a high level of care for seriously unwell individuals in a confined and isolated environment.

Compounding this in New Zealand, is our long, narrow land mass with mountains that run most of its length.

This terrain often creates difficult conditions and demands constant attention and respect from each member in the aeromedical team.

For our Australian friends here, I imagine your services must have to deal with a quite different set of geographical circumstances: heat, dust and distance, among other things, must all take their toll on you and your machines.

I suspect there are many out there who see the aeromedical services as being the more glamorous side of things, but the reality is that those on the frontline work very hard in often very trying circumstances.

The attractive qualities of a visit to Queenstown aside, your individual attendance here shows that you are committed to improving the safety and quality of a complex – and inherently hazardous – aeromedical industry.

Whether your role is clinical, operational, or management; whether you are a doctor, nurse, or paramedic; and, whether you are in fixed or rotary wing aircraft – thank you for your positive contribution to this industry.

It takes a broad approach with wide representation to ensure the system is effective and efficient, which is reflected in the diverse makeup of this conference’s attendees.

The New Zealand health system is strong, but it is not without its challenges.

We are not isolated from the challenges that many health systems internationally face with increasing numbers of older people who are living longer and a growing burden of long-term conditions.

Today’s healthcare model cannot afford to meet tomorrow’s challenges.

We need to change the way that we fund and deliver health services.

We must find sustainable ways to deliver services, focusing our investments so they maximise outcomes.

The New Zealand Health Strategy is there to guide change in our system.

Its aim is that all New Zealanders live well, stay well, and get well, in a system that is people-powered, provides services closer to home, is designed for value and high performance, and works as one team in a smart system.

It is great to see the Strategy’s theme of value and high performance strongly represented throughout this conference.

There is a strong focus on continuous improvement, on research and on improving patient outcomes.

The people-powered theme from the strategy is, in part, understanding people’s needs and preferences and partnering with them to design services to meet those needs.

Users provide unique insights into our services and we should continually ask whether we are doing enough to involve them in our service design.

New Zealand’s aeromedical sector has not escaped the challenges that the rest of health faces, in fact it could be argued it is one of the more visible indicators of it.

We continue to see significant increases in the use of emergency air ambulance services and inter-hospital transfers.

And I would like to note here, the good work of the highly specialised teams – consisting of doctors, nurses, pilots, and crew – doing inter-hospital transfers, often in fixed-wing aircraft.

Your work does not tend to get the same public attention as rescue helicopters doing primary retrievals, but it is of high value to the health system and highly valued by those who need its assistance.

The aeromedical sector has unique challenges, such as: emerging clinical pathways, which will accelerate growth in demand; providers often servicing sparse populations in challenging terrains; and funding is considered unsustainable to both funders and service providers.

Regardless of the funding source, we need to ensure efficient use of those funds to achieve the best outcomes for New Zealanders.

The ongoing development of destination policies in New Zealand is an important area of improvement.

Destination policies ensure patients go to the most appropriate destination, first time. This bypassing of closer hospitals is a key enabler in reducing morbidity and mortality.

The spinal cord impairment destination policy introduced last year has resulted in approximately 150 patients transported directly to spinal units.

This, we know, is improving outcomes and quality of life.

New Zealand is developing a range of national destination policies, such as for major trauma, stroke, and heart attack.

These are good examples of ‘value and high performance’ from the New Zealand Health Strategy in action.

Aeromedical services are fundamental to these pathways, providing specialist emergency care over very long distances.

The Ministry of Health recently received a joint proposal from the air and road ambulance sectors to establish a single, dedicated desk for the dispatch and coordination of emergency air ambulance services.

This has the potential to improve the safety and effectiveness of aeromedical services and a 12-month pilot of the desk is to be funded to test the degree of improvement in the quality, safety, and utilisation of emergency air assets that it delivers.

With recruitment and training set to take place from October this year, this desk will be operational in early 2017.

Getting the coordination right, ensuring we know what resources we have to work with, where that resource is at a point in time and what it is doing is key to ensuring a service functioning at an optimal level.

Health continues to be a Government priority, with the Ministry of Health allocated an additional $15 million in Budget 2016 over the next four years for emergency air and road ambulance services.

Increases in demand for emergency air ambulance services are expected to absorb some of this, but it will also be invested in other opportunities that arise, such as the air dispatch desk or supporting further destination policies.

I will briefly touch on paramedic registration before coming to a close.

The Ministry of Health is considering Ambulance New Zealand’s application for paramedics to be registered health professionals.

Registration exists to improve the competence of – and to protect the public from – health practitioners, however, an indirect benefit of registration could be the broadening of the paramedic role.

It may lead to the development of paramedic specialists working independently in aeromedical services, which may present significant opportunities for paramedics and for the aeromedical sector.

This conference is packed with insight.

Whether you learn about new practices that will improve health outcomes; whether you discuss systems to improve the quality and safety of your care; whether it confirms you are doing the right thing; or, whether it grows your professional network – I am sure that this conference will be of huge value to each of you by enhancing your work.

Your sector brings confidence and a sense of safety and security to those across New Zealand and Australia particularly, but to all countries in which they operate, knowing that wherever they may be, help is really just a phone call away.

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to improve the quality and safety of the aeromedical sector, a sector that is of huge importance to the health system and those who need its services.

ENDS

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