Procedural sedation course set to improve rural patient outcomes

Many painful injuries or stressful procedures are dealt with by doctors and nurses in larger city hospitals. But now, for the first time, New Zealand’s rural medical practitioners will be able to attend a course on procedural sedation and analgesia (PSA), which will enable rural residents to get the care they need, much closer to home. PSA is a medical procedure which uses sedatives, amnestics or pain-relieving drugs to help patients tolerate painful or stressful procedures, while keeping their airway stable. The procedure will be taught by University of Otago staff at the Rural Health Academic Centre Ashburton (RHACA) next week. RHACA director Dr Chris Hill said procedural sedation and the space where acute medicine and anaesthesia collided, had been evolving over the past 20 years. “With better evidence around techniques, drugs and the use of technology, it made sense to bring everything together in a rurally delivered and contextually appropriate course.” Course director Dr Jack Haywood said it was the first time such a course had been offered in New Zealand. It would give rural medical professionals an opportunity to learn the technique and practise alongside other rural doctors in realistic simulation scenarios, which would help build confidence, strengthen teamwork and ensure patients receive safe, high-quality care. He said it aimed to give participants the clinical competence and courage to perform PSA in their specific rural setting. “This helps avoid the need for deeper general anaesthesia, which is typically delivered in operating theatres by specialist anaesthetists. “In the rural context, we hope it will prevent transfers to urban centres, allowing increased access for care closer to home, whānau and whenua, with the potential to decrease rural-urban health inequities. “For rural patients, this could mean less time and financial costs incurred to them, to receive the care they need.” Dr Haywood said rural medical professionals from around New Zealand would be participating in the course. “The course definitely seems to be tapping an unmet need from rural health professionals,” he said. john.lewis@odt.co.nz