On Wednesday 26 September I found myself flying to Gove alongside the NTGPE CEO Brett Dale, DMCE Tamsin Cockayne, Medical Educator Nigel Gray, Liaison Officer Leanne Pena and Cultural Educator Elisabeth Heenan. Our mission: Accreditation Site Visits, External Clinical Teaching Visits (ECTVs) and GP Supervisor and Practice Manager Professional Development Workshops.
On arrival in Gove, Nigel and Elisabeth went on to their ECTVs and Brett, Tamsin, Leeanne and myself headed to our charter flight to Ramingining. This was Brett’s and my first remote community visit and we were both extremely excited. Once on board and sitting next to the pilot Brett seemed to take his role of co-pilot quite seriously, needing constant reminding to ‘keep your hands away from the instruments’.
We had a full day with accreditation site visits at Ramingining, Gapuwyiak and then back to Gove and onto Yirrkala. On arrival in Ramingining we were met by Rhonda the Remote Area Nurse (RAN) from the clinic and were also joined by a group from NT Remote Health which made for a very cosy car ride back to the clinic.
One of the colourful artworks at the Ramingining Health Centre
The medical centre at Ramingining was modern, bright and colourful with well-equipped consulting and treatment rooms. The atmosphere and warm and the staff were friendly; you could feel the pride this facility brought to the community. Following a walk through the practice and meetings with key medical staff we then farewelled Ramingining and headed to Gapuwyiak. The pilot was happy to meet Brett’s request to look for buffalo so we flew as low as we could trying to spot this elusive NT icon.
Arriving at Gapuwyiak we were greeted by Peter Chilcott, Director of Medical Services from Gove District Hospital and Teresa, an Aboriginal Health Professional, who showed us around the practice. The kitchen soon became our Meeting Room where along with the team from NT Remote, Peter Chilcott and ourselves discussions were held regarding Accreditation and remote supervision models for Ramingining and Gapuwyiak.
On arrival back in Gove we headed to Yirrkala Health Centre for another Accreditation Site Visit where we met with Angela Woltmann and the friendly Yirrkala team ranging from receptionists to mental health workers. Yirrkala is a impressive well equipped facility.
The babies room at Yirrkala Medical Centre
That evening we held drinks at the Arnhem Club where we were joined by GP Supervisors and GP Registrars from Gove, it was a great opportunity to meet informally. The GP Supervisor & Practice Managers Workshop was held on Thursday 27th September at Nhulunbuy Health with six Supervisors and three Practice Managers attending and enjoying a day of learning and networking.
We winged our way back to Darwin that night albeit it on a very delayed flight, but what a fantastic couple of days. It was a pleasure to visit the communities, meet and spend time with the staff at the practices, deepen relationships with our GP Supervisors & Practice Managers and promote NTGPE.
Thank you for this opportunity!
Susie
