Heart ofAustraliaIt is a transportable healthsolution that takes patientsfrom symptom to diagnosisin the heart ot Australia'soutback. Reporter MegPigram travelled with the25m mobile cardiac clinicto Goondiwindi, meetingpatients and seeing howthe bush benefits frommetropolitan services.

I T may he an outhack town on the Queenslandborder, but even with its 5500-peoplepopulation, Goondiwindi is making

important healthcare advances.Under the guidance of Brisbane-based

cardiologist Dr Rolf Gomes, the town isamong those racing ahead with a collaborativeapproach to reducing the impact ofcardiovascular health complications.

Through a partnership with pharmaceuticalcompany Bayer, Dr Gomes has establishedthe Heart of Australia mobile cardiac clinic,which brings medical services to small, isolatedcommunities and saves patients, many of whomare elderly, more than 700km in travel toBrisbane.

In less than a year, the mobile clinic hasreached out to more than 2500 patients andcompleted more than 100 town visits in an11-town loop. To achieve this, it clocks up7000km a month.

The innovation combines the resourcesof cardiologists Dr Gomes and Dr MatthewPincus, who alternate on the bus trips, and takespatients from symptom to diagnosis, through totreatment.

However, while the two specialists lead theteam, in each community there is a host of otherhealth professionals, including allied healthspecialists, who connect the community to theservices they otherwise often go without.

On board the bus, patients are offered morethan just a cardiology consultancy. Patients whoare referred by GPs to the service can access afull range of diagnostic tests.

In addition to Goondiwindi, towns servicedby Heart of Australia include Dalby, Roma, StGeorge, Longreach, Barcaldine, Moranbah,

HEARAUSTR

"We are doing bloodpressure checks, medchecks, home medicinesreviews and doseadministration aidsbut there are plans toexpand this"

— local pharmacist

Emerald, Charters Towers, Charleville andHughenden.

It's people like Goondiwindi pharmacistEsmond Wright who connect patients to theservice through the professional services offeredin his bush pharmacy.

But Mr Wright, the manager of Allen'sPharmacy, one of the two pharmacies in town,is just one member of a team that includescommunity GPs and sonographers.

Speaking to Pharmacy News during a Heartof Australia visit, Mr Wright says many patientsconsult him about cardiac health.

And since Heart of Australia beganstopovers in Goondiwindi, he has invested inprofessional services which complement thework of the clinic.

"We support their work through, obviously,dispensing medications, but we also liaise withdoctors, offer patient counselling and, at times,we work directly with the specialists."

Mr Wight is full of praise for the work of DrGomes and the program.

"One of the key preventive measures is toget onto it early. So we participate in strokeawareness, looking at key factors that reduce theimpact of the disease."

In discussing the health needs of his ruralcommunity, Mr Wright says he sees a lot ofcardio and diabetes patients.

"Here we are seeing a lot more of themiddle-aged people, especially men, who arevery reluctant to get checked.

"These people are not the target group, butwe are seeing a lot of early signs in them here."

The partnership with the mobile clinic hasinspired a new fitout for Allen's Pharmacy.

"We want to take a more proactive

Ref: 561469749Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) licenced copy

Pharmacy NewsMarch, 2016Page: 32Section: General NewsRegion: National, AUCirculation: 6382Type: Magazines TradeSize: 1,312.00 sq.cms.

Page 1 of 2AUS: 1300 1 SLICE NZ: 0800 1 SLICE service@slicemedia.com

press clip

TAKING A SELFIE: . ockwise fromicles sponsoredaceuticals. Gary

Turner is one of Dr Rolf Gomes'spatients who was found to have avalvular issue. Mr Turner's problemmay have gone undetected if theHeart of Australia mobile unithad not visited Goondiwindi. DrGomes and St George GP Dr DesleyMarshall. Dr Marshall's husbandis also one of the patients of Heartof Australia. On board the Heart ofAustralia truck the medical stafftry and bring humour to their workand encourage patients to take

'—Ifte' with the cardboard cutsf the bus.

Founder Dr Gomesregularly posts the A'promotional shots 4'to his social media

approach, spend that extra time in the shop,doing extra checks — checks like hlood pressureand glucose — and find out if it is somethingpatients regularly do."

Mr Wright says it is through a partnershipwith Heart of Australia that his pharmacy cantake a more personal approach to primary health.

"At the moment, we are doing hlood pressurechecks, med checks, home medicines reviewsand dose administration aids but there are plansto expand this arena once the shop fitout iscomplete."

The professional services on offer in thepharmacy complement the work of Heartof Australia, but Mr Wright says a lot of hisstrategic service direction is inspired by theneeeds of the community.

"I guess Heart of Australia also saw the needfor cardiac services here, same as us. We dowhat we do because they are the services whichimpact the diseases prevalent in Goondiwindi."

Mr Wright says he is incorporatingan education component in the new-lookpharmacy.

"We will be doing further education clinicsin store, we will allocate more pharmacisttime."

Dr Gomes says advocacy is key to his mobileclinic's success.

"We want pharmacists to provide advocacyabout the service being in the towns as it willencourage people to discuss their symptomswith their GPs and get checked out."

More importantly, Dr Gomes says he cannotstress enough the need for pharmacists toinsist that patients adhere to their prescribedtreatments.

"Advise patients not to cease taking theirmedication because of information they mayhave received from external sources; forexample, recent media releases about statins, DrGomes says."

He suggests that pharmacists wishing toexpand their scope of practice around cardiacpatient care should make the time to attendHeart of Australia GP education evenings.

"I'm sure the face-to-face contact wouldgenerate collaborative opportunities. We would

love to include them in our monthly newslettermailing list so we can partner with them at anyopportunity."

Dr Gomes, whose service has been fullybooked since 2014, says pharmacists shouldstart conversations with their patients andsupply them with a current medication list.

He says the early signs of cardiovasculardisease should continue to be monitored bypharmacists, who should suggest that high-riskpatients seek medical help.

"I guess those coming in with chest tightnessor breathlessness, dizziness, palpitations orblacking out would also be concerning. Ifmultiple close relatives have had heart problems,then it may be relevant for first-degree relativesto also be screened.

"Time is of the essence in reaching peoplewith cardiovascular health issues.

"Demand for our service continues to growand reliable support vehicles provided by Bayerhelp keep Heart of Australia on the road,and make it possible for us to see even morepatients every day." •

Ref: 561469749Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) licenced copy

Pharmacy NewsMarch, 2016Page: 32Section: General NewsRegion: National, AUCirculation: 6382Type: Magazines TradeSize: 1,312.00 sq.cms.

Page 2 of 2AUS: 1300 1 SLICE NZ: 0800 1 SLICE service@slicemedia.com

press clip