Plan to send doctors to Nauru, PNG to treat sick asylum-seekers

Additional taxpayer-funded medical services may be provided to asylum-seekers in Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

Extra taxpayer-funded medical services may be provided to ­asylum-seekers in Nauru and Papua New Guinea to reduce the need for patients to be evacuated to Australia.

Amid negotiations over proposed changes to the ­approval process for medical evacuations, the Home Affairs Department is looking at arrangements that may see Australian specialists sent to the patients instead.

The department is set to engage a company to provide independent medical case reviews and, where necessary, deploy specialists to treat patients in PNG, Nauru or another country.

This would be separate to the work done by government contractors IHMS in Nauru and Pacific International Hospital in PNG, but still under the control of the department.

The move could potentially see medical teams dispatched at short notice to work in offshore facilities and alleviate any concerns over the status of asylum-seekers brought to Australia.

“These deployments will occur on a case-by-case basis and require departmental approval prior to activation,” the tender documents state.

“In the event of a medical specialist deployment, the case review services provider must maintain all certifications and have in place suitable insurances for their personnel to practise at the preferred hospitals in PNG and Nauru, or another specified country, as well as the recognition of an appropriate quality assurance and clinical governance frameworks.”

The department called for ­expressions of interest last April, provided tender documents to potential bidders in July, and flagged its intention to initially offer a one-year contract with ­options to extend.

A department spokeswoman yesterday could not provide further details of the new arrangements “until contractual arrange­ments are finalised”.

The department gave a similar response in November. It is understood the Pacific Inter­national Hospital contract expired in December and is under negotiation.

The IHMS contract expires at the end of the month. In the first quarter of 2018-19, Pacific International Hospital was paid $4.9 million and IHMS $6.11m.

Australian Medical Association president Tony Bartone has called on parliament to do “what is best for the health of asylum-seekers and refugees”.