S.TRUEMAN PhD THESIS 2016

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services through FIFO-GP and nurse-led clinics, mobile dental services and patient transfers. The RFDS’s activities fall into three areas for remote mental healthcare. First, the RFDS provides some limited direct mental healthcare to remote regions, such as the remote Queensland Social and Emotional Wellbeing program, Mental Health in New South Wales program and, Mental Health Outreach program in remote South Australia and Northern Territory. Second, there are remote ‘tele-health’ consultation services. These are telephone calls to an RFDS base, from individuals or health workers (remote nurses), situated in remote areas, who require medical assistance or telephone advice from a RFDS medical officer (including being part of the joint decision making process concerning the aero evacuation of mental health patients). As a remoted psychiatrist stated: Theoretically they should speak to the out of hours, to the consultant on call in the remote team in the area … but they may speak to the RFDS doctor, particularly if there’s a medical reason. [T11, p. 9] Third, are the RFDS emergency aero-evacuations throughout remote Australia for people who are seriously mentally ill and require urgent specialist mental health attention. In 2014–2015, the RFDS provided 4,336 general emergency evacuations utilising a fleet of 63 fully instrumented aircraft, from 25 airbases across Australia.