The Islands have flourished in the years since the 1982 conflict, with strong economic growth and excellent community facilities and overall quality of life, which is comparable to that of the UK. Due to the strength of financial reserves and the impact of the current oil exploration activity the Government is faring the present recession well.

 

The contract package for this post, in addition to salary, gratuity and low tax levels includes provision of government housing (a rent is charged for this), air fares including for annual leave for employee and family and education allowances.

 

The post provides a fantastic opportunity to work at the most senior level in a small government and hospital with considerable scope to develop policy and practice.

 

The post is offered on a three year contract, potentially renewable for two years by mutual agreement and comes with a substantial benefits package.

 

The Government is willing to consider secondment arrangements for the post.

 

 

The Falkland Islands Government Department of Health, Education and Social Services provide primary, community and secondary healthcare in the Falkland Islands as well as social services to vulnerable people in the community. It also provides a range of benefits for those most in need. Most services are offered via the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) in the Islands capital, Stanley.   

 

Our mission is to provide high quality, cost-effective health and social services which address the identified needs of the populations we serve, in order to preserve life, treat illness and promote lifelong well-being.  

 

The resident population of the Islands is approximately 3,000. We also provide secondary care services to a further 2,000 military personnel and associated civilians at Mount Pleasant Airfield, 35 miles south-west of Stanley.   We offer urgent and emergency care services to approximately 50,000 people who visit the islands each year. These include the crews of the foreign fishing vessels who fish in South Atlantic waters.  

 

The service is headed by the Director of Education, Health and Social Services, who is responsible to the Chief Executive of the Falkland Islands Government. Overall clinical responsibility lies with the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) who is also the Government’s adviser for all clinical and public health matters.

 

The general standard of health in the Islands is good, with a pattern of disease similar to that of most developed countries. There are slightly lower rates of cancer generally but higher rates of lung disease. There are also significant levels of mild to moderate mental health problems and alcohol abuse. To date, problems of drug misuse are virtually unknown, as is HIV/AIDS.    In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the elderly population (approximately 87% in 10 years) coupled with an increasing birth rate, creating an inevitable increase in demand on health and social services.   

 

All medical, dental and community health services are based in the hospital. The 28 bed complement is made up of 18 acute beds, a maternity bed, a single-bedded isolation unit, 2-bed intensive care unit, and 7 long-stay nursing home beds.   There are modern facilities for outpatients and community health care, a day centre, 2 dental surgeries, and a single theatre with anaesthetic room.

 

The health and social services department consists of approximately 93 whole time equivalent staff.    The Hospital has a staff of 6.3 doctors (4.3 GPs), including surgeon and anaesthetist, and a range of nurses and other health professionals including midwives, theatre team, health visitor, district nurse, mental health worker, physiotherapist, speech and language therapist, podiatrist and dentists.   There is a small pharmacy with two full-time staff, one of whom is a qualified pharmacist.   The Hospital has the normal range of supporting and domestic services including engineering and catering. An organisational structure chart highlighting the CMO role is annexed to this note.   

Primary, Secondary and Emergency Healthcare Services are offered via the KEMH. For example, minor and major emergencies of all kinds are dealt with initially in the small casualty department.   During the day, the department is staffed by a senior nurse.   At night, the nurse provides on call cover from home.   The medical officers are rostered to provide emergency care on a daily rota.   All medical officers attend an Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), and a local trauma course is also run on a regular basis. 

 

There is a full theatre team on duty throughout the normal working week and on call at all other times. 

 

The hospital provides the ambulance service, using ‘untrained’ drivers accompanied by one of the casualty nurses.   In addition, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) at Mount Pleasant (MPA) Airbase provides Search and Rescue helicopters to transport seriously injured patients to and from the hospital.   

 

Very seriously ill patients can be provided with intensive care in the 2-bedded ITU unit, but the hospital capacity is such that this cannot be maintained over a long period. Patients in this situation are stabilised and evacuated out of the islands either via a Chilean civilian aeromedical evacuation team to Santiago, or via military aircraft to Montevideo. The latter route is used only in the most pressing emergencies, on average two to three times each year.  

 

The department has a major accident plan, which forms part of the overall major incident plan for the islands, which is also linked into the MoD. 

 

On the primary healthcare front, the 5 (4wte) ‘medical officers’ provide general practitioner services modelled on those in the UK. Surgeries are usually held twice a day on each working week day. Appointments are 10 minutes duration. Approximately 24,000 consultations were undertaken across outpatients and casualty in 2010. 

 

Each week, one of the doctors makes a rural visit, either by land rover or light aircraft, depending on location.    Each settlement is visited approximately every 6 weeks in rotation.