Churchill fellowship recipient Gerard Leddy was so impressed by Queensland Health’s remote palliative care program he flew from Northern Ireland to Australia to investigate.
Gerard is the lead of the specialist palliative care service within the Southern Health & Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland and spent four weeks this year touring Queensland’s Specialist Palliative Care Rural Telehealth Service (SPaRTa) hubs to see them in action.
SPaRTa provides patient telehealth consultations and clinical advice to local clinicians managing patients with a terminal illness in rural and regional Queensland.
‘I was researching models of care to extend the capacity of our palliative care service,’ explains Gerard.
‘The distances we cover in Northern Ireland are small compared to Queensland, but we both have small towns/villages that need equitable access to palliative care services,’ said Gerard.
‘We have people who are unable to travel for care, and telehealth helps bridge that gap.’
‘The SPaRTa telehealth model is a really good way to extend specialist palliative care capacity and provide improved care to people in rural areas. I have been very lucky to have this opportunity to visit this amazing place, with amazing professionals to view first-hand the benefit it provides to patients who would not have received this expert support, to continue to live as well as possible with a focus on quality of life, if this service has not been available.'
Cairns palliative care specialist Dr Travis Moran said that although the two countries have huge differences in geography and distance, they both have a range of service providers working together to support palliative care clients.
‘Our SPaRTa model allows our palliative care experts to support health care professionals, clients and families in rural and remote areas. We liaise with health care professionals on the front line, including GPs, pharmacists, community health nurses and NGO nurses,’ said Travis.
Gerard visited the SPaRTa hubs of Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Townsville, and Cairns and will be taking some of the learnings back to Northern Ireland as part of his Churchill Fellowship.
'I was truly blown away by the hospitality and time given from all of the palliative care teams across Queensland,’ said Gerard.
‘It is such a great place, with wonderful people, doing an amazing job for patients and loved ones who are in a vulnerable place.’
Read more about the multidisciplinary services offered by SPaRTa.