WORKING TO CLOSE THE GAP

THE TOWNSVILLE Hospital and Health Service has launched their reconciliation action plan this NAIDOC week, hoping other health services will follow suit.

Board chair Tony Mooney said the plan, about nine months in the making, would be a blueprint for how to tackle a number of issues around closing the gap.

“Closing the gap for us means a strong commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees, it recognises the need for more resourcing,” he said.

“Also the need for better integration i b between primary healthcare centres and secondary and tertiary centres which we represent here.”

Mr Mooney said the hospital was focused on improving health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health executive director Dallas Leon said there were clear differences in health outcomes for indigenous people, with life expectancy significantly less.

Mr Leon said the two-year reconciliation action plan involved consultation with a large number of staff.

He said it would focus on employing more indigenous staff at the hospital and making it a more welcoming environment.

“It will help with patient engagement, support and hopefully outcomes over time,” he said. “Hopefully other hospital services use this as an example for what they can do in the region.”

Townsville Hospital and Health Service’s catchment is home to about 240,000 people, with 8.7 per cent identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.

In the 2017-18 financial year the health service had 72,814 inpatients with 11,640 of those identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.