The idea of a broad and all-encompassing view of access is vital to
overcome all the barriers to accessing good (enough) healthcare.
The idea of good enough is also important as perfect is too far away and
in most cases always going to be far too expensive. This discussion
should also include transport, an often neglected part of health care.
Getting a patient to an appropriately (good enough) equipped facility
with enough time to spare to allow the correct intervention will save
life or improve the outcome. The key questions that need answering
are (and always have been) What is good enough, what is time is quick
enough, what is the right intervention – and of course how to supply the
above.
Each discipline has it’s contribution to make. Mine is patient transport
and logistics. Work we have done with Maternal Mortality reduction shows
clear benefits to motorised transport for mothers with problems. 20- 30
Km is a killer if you need medical care within 2hrs. Yes, there needs to
be a facility, yes there needs to be staff, yes – they need equipment
and training.
Let’s continue to seek solutions to the full length of the problem from
beginning to end, and I suggest the beginning is education.
Pete Sonderskov
The Ranger Production Company
(www.eranger.com)
