It was, on the 2nd week of October and I invited to attend the External Liaison Committee meeting of the Institute of Remote Health care (IRHC) like a lot of my peers I was initially sceptical about the IRHC and what it would mean for me as a Remote/offshore medic.
My first impressions of the IRHC were through the website and I must admit I had the initial impression that it was a bit highbrow and academic for a bloke like me. I also remember the ill-fated “Paramedic UK” set up of the 1990’s and I am sure a lot of us of a certain age have some mixed memories of how that ended. So with these pre conceived ideas, I attended this meeting in a casual dress code manner!
There were some major players in attendance from the large medical provider groups, UK oil and gas as well as the faculty of IRHC. The most important question which I needed to clarify, before I departed with my hard earned cash was ‘What can the IRHC do for me as a medic’! As a confirmed sceptic I had two major areas of concern of two other subjects: Will the IRHC be seen by smaller companies we work for as an “organisation of labour” in short a medics union and secondly, why do we need a register!
It has been my experience that there are numerous medics roles advertised, but when you are appointed to that role, it is so divorced from remote medicine. In the past I have sold sweets and cigarettes, done photocopying and been expected to be the rig secretary, training officer and then fit in seeing patients. I do not want to be a general admin clerk with a flair for medicine; I want to be a professional medic! I am saddened to report that within my career, have taken over from medics with drawers full of dangerously out of date drugs and stretchers that are so corroded and old that I would not even use them for training; yet the Medic I am standing in for is considered the best Medic ever because he arranged a training course and sold them something from the bond. I must stress this is not the normal, but it’s unregulated and Medics need to accountable, I hope the IRHC can step up to the mark.
So to discuss this with senior members of IRHC and discover a similar view on what the role of a medic should be was refreshing. It appears to me that other organisations are far too busy to help the IRHC achieve registration status; the Health Professionals council (HPC) are far too busy making sure that the general public are protected when requiring quality health care from the NHS. It seems to me that the HSE see this as something they would support, but why should they use their finite resources when there are some very big pockets in the industry with financial backing who should stump up some cash to support registration.
A lot of hard work has obviously gone into the IRHC with a lot of reputations being put on the line to establish a “fit for purpose” organisation and that will (it says) improve the standard of the medic’s in our chosen field as well as please the industry.
The IRHC need to support the need for registration, otherwise they will continue to recruit “poor quality” medics. The industry, IRHC and HSE as well as ourselves, need to fully accept change. This is a very tall order and everyone has an opinion that is relevant, however, I was the only Medic there! Not one of my fellow medics, all of whom I know have an opinion, failed to step up to the mark and an afternoon of their time to influencing change. In fact sometimes it is hard to get a word in edgeways and too often than not, our companies fail to listen, but here is a forum we can use to influence change! OK so my company paid for the flight, but there a lot of medics in the Aberdeen area and this meeting was no great secret. I have suggested that any new member’s forums should take place in interesting medical venues in cities where budget airways operate to try and improve attendance and feedback. I hope the attendance of Medics will improve as we are the reason the IRHC exists, to support us, our professional status and the people we consult with.
I know I am not the only medic who thinks registration of medics and training providers is a good idea. This will ultimately improve standards by cutting out some of the poorer quality medics and downright dangerous operators in the remote medical world. It would also mean that the better the medic and the stronger organisation we have behind us, the better our lives as medics will be. There is a real opportunity for us to raise the medic profile but only if there is support from the ordinary members, will our role be respected within the various industries we work in.
The overall impression I had was this is our best chance we have of making the medics role respected by the client companies in the same way as the ‘Safety Officer’ or ‘Maintenance Supervisor’. If we do not let this organisation fly, we will be absorbed into other roles (in some companies this is already happening.) Membership / registration may even be reflected in our pay packet.
So where are the rest of you! Feedback is needed so get emailing if you don’t want it, say so, if you do, then read up about it and question it, just don’t give into the apathy we have seen so many times in the past. Finally, let’s see you at the next meeting!
Simon Harvey Offshore Medic Transocean and IRHC Affiliate Member
IRHC Journal
