INTERNATIONAL STORY “SOME PEOPLE JUST WANT TO HAVE A CHAT,” SAYS DR HARRISON, “AND THAT LEADS US TO GIVING THEM A TREATMENT.”PHOTO COURTESY OF THE BIG ISSUE AUSTRALIA / INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF STREET PAPERS MEDICS ON WHEELS: PROVIDING HEALTHCARE TO PEOPLE ON THE STREETS BY DANIEL NOUR BLACKTOWN IS TEEMING WITH PHARMACIES, GP clinics, medical centers, and all the requisite facilities of health care. On Blacktown Road, they’re hard to miss, and just two minutes away stands Blacktown Hospital, a major in-patient care facility of Sydney’s western suburbs. But on this cold Saturday, it’s not the town center but Blacktown’s Alpha Park that plays host to a mobile medical service for people experiencing life on the margins. A van serves as a free clinic, with a row of folding chairs in its waiting room. Needles, vaccines, dressings, electrocardiography, ultrasound machines, cannulas, and all manner of medications, including antibiotics, penicillin, blood thinners, and other prescriptions, line the walls of the van. This is not some no-frills sick bay for casual care; this is a state-of-the-art, fully equipped medical facility that happens to be parked next to a tennis court. The brainchild of 27-year-old Dr. Daniel Nour, the 2022 Young Australian of the Year (who, providentially, shares my name), Street Side Medics is here to support anyone needing medical care and health advice. Rose, a Mauritian woman in her sixties, with a wide smile and a calm voice, has just had a consultation. “I have high blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol,” she said. “The quality of care here is top. Everyone is welcome and they see everyone the same. Here you are welcomed with a smile like a family and, before they give you medication, they check what is going on first and ask about your story.” This van is one of two – with a third on the way – that services communities in Blacktown, Parramatta, Manly, Woolloomooloo, Surry Hills, Hornsby, and, shortly, Wollongong. The beauty of being on wheels meant a van could also be sent to Lismore to assist during the flood crisis. “When I looked at all the different challenges [in Sydney] the solution I thought of was…taking the service to them, removing as many barriers as we can,” said Dr. Nour, who launched the service in 2020. The idea was planted a year earlier when, walking home after his shift at Imperial College London’s School of Medicine, he stopped to help a man having a seizure. When he asked one of the man’s friends why he hadn’t sought medical care earlier, she explained he would “never be taken seriously” in a hospital, because he was homeless. “That really slapped me in the face,” he said. “The [Australian] healthcare system is one of the best in the world... Our system is, however, under some stress and is tailored to the majority of our population. It is not tailored to minority populations. This includes the homeless population.” Street Side Medics overcomes these barriers to access by taking its vans to the people themselves, working with existing community organizations. Here today, One Meal is loading up plates as well as offering fruit and other items, including blankets and teddy bears for children. They’re staffed by volunteers, young and old, and from all ethnicities. Other community groups, such as the Hare Krishna movement, have also set up food stalls in the park. It’s a system that works for Rose. “I come here every Saturday, and [the first time] I came for the food service,” she said. “It’s good because when you go to the medical center you have to wait, but here you can have quick service.” The vans are run by two teams of volunteers. Outside the van, a social worker and other health professionals approach people about their health concerns. Inside the van, a GP and a nurse wait to see the patients. “What we do outside the van, talking to people, is just as important as what we do inside,” said David Ballhausen, Street Side Medics CEO. “What the doctors love is that they can take their time. Nobody is counting the minutes.” Today, he is particularly worried about a young woman with a recurring health issue, who’s here with her partner. “She had some serious blood results but as she has some addiction issues, now is not a good time,” he said hurriedly. “With situations like that, you don’t give up, so I’ve offered to pick them up or, as an alternative, to come to our clinic in 8 DENVER VOICE March 2023
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