Saint Helena Government ITT - Medevac / Specialist secondary/tertiary healthcare

To access St Helena, the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) St Helena currently travels regularly between Cape Town, St Helena and Ascension Island. However, the RMS St Helena ocean passenger service is scheduled to cease in mid-2016, following the opening of the airport.

The role of the SHG Health Directorate is to deliver a high standard of health care to improve the health status and well-being of the population, with particular emphasis on the vulnerable and those members of our community who are ‘at risk’.

At present the majority of patients requiring specialist secondary care/tertiary care travel to Cape Town on the RMS St Helena. Only an extremely limited number of patients are transferred to the UK (usually via Ascension Island). It is unlikely that the number of patients transferred to the UK will change significantly in the foreseeable future. St Helena is likely to continue to remain reliant on accessing specialist secondary care / tertiary care predominantly in South Africa.

In the preceding three years to July 2015, the principal conditions necessitating transfer to South Africa (Cape Town) for diagnosis/treatment have predominantly involved the following medical specialties (listed in descending order of frequency of occurrence):

6. Objectives

1. The SHG Health Directorate is proposing to develop a comprehensive Service Level Agreement (SLA) with a private healthcare provider in South Africa. It is envisaged that this may include the possibility of implementing a ‘preferred provider’ arrangement for services which are provided at a negotiated rate.