Simon Quilty

• FRACP, MB BS, MPhilPH, B. Eng
• Medical Doctor at Australian National University

Architecture can be very influential in enabling health and wellbeing in the residential built environment. In arid regions, health-supportive design would consider major environmental hazards, such as heat and dust, as well as social and cultural factors that influence household size and composition. Under current and projected conditions, the eff...

It is known that environmental heat is associated with increased morbidity manifesting as increasing demand on acute care health services including pre-hospital transport and emergency departments. These services play a vital role in emergency care, and in rural and remote locations, where resource capacity is limited, aeromedical and other retriev...

Background There is a paucity of data on the burden of heart failure (HF) in Central Australia, the most populous Indigenous region in the country. Aims To characterize Indigenous and non‐Indigenous Australians with HF in Central Australia. Methods Consecutive patients with HF and reduced ejection fraction <50% were included for the period 2019 t...

Background Climate change is increasing heat-associated mortality particularly in hotter parts of the world. The Northern Territory is a large and sparsely populated peri-equatorial state in Australia. The Northern Territory has the highest proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia (31%), most of whom live in remote co...

Classifying free-text from historical databases into research-compatible formats is a barrier for clinicians undertaking audit and research projects. The aim of this study was to (a) develop interactive active machine-learning model training methodology using readily available software that was (b) easily adaptable to a wide range of natural langua...

Energy policy measures aimed at mitigating the impacts of energy insecurity during the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as moratoriums on disconnection from electricity, were widespread. In Australia, early pandemic safeguards against electricity disconnection were successful in temporarily protecting most people. However, their applicati...

In January 2022, as the COVID pandemic reached remote communities in Central Australia, The Northern Territory Health Central Australian Regional Health Service and the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) executed 'COVID on Country', a program designed to triage cases and to implement treatment and clinical review of individuals in their community w...

Classifying free-text from historical databases into research-compatible formats is a barrier for clinicians undertaking audit and research projects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and speed of an interactive active machine-learning model training methodology for classifying free text from clinical notes into customised research...

Introduction: Low retention is a significant contributor to medical workforce shortages in rural and remote regions of Australia, including in the Northern Territory (NT). Many of these areas are susceptible to climate change, which could exacerbate workforce retention problems. Objective: To examine factors influencing medical workforce retenti...

For remote Indigenous communities prepaying for electricity in Australia’s Northern Territory, temperature extremes increase reliance on the services that energy provides and the risk of disconnection of those services. Policy should focus on reducing the frequency, duration and negative impacts of disconnection, within the context of a warming cli...

Indigenous communities in remote Australia face dangerous temperature extremes. These extremes are associated with increased risk of mortality and ill health. For many households, temperature extremes increase both their reliance on those services that energy provides, and the risk of those services being disconnected. Poor quality housing, low inc...

Introduction It is well-established that heatwaves increase demand for emergency transport in metropolitan areas; however, little is known about the impact of heat events on demand for prehospital retrieval services in rural and remote areas, or how heatwaves are defined in this context. Inclusion Criteria Papers were eligible for inclusion if the...

Introduction: It is well established that heatwaves increase demand for emergency transport in metropolitan areas, however little is known about the impact of heat events on demand for prehospital retrieval services in rural and remote areas, or how heatwaves are defined in this context. Inclusion criteria: Papers were eligible for inclusion if the...

Background: Aboriginal people in rural and remote areas of the Northern Territory of Australia have suffered longstanding issues of homelessness and profound health and social inequities. The town and region of Katherine are particularly impacted by such inequities and have the highest rates of homelessness in Australia, composed almost entirely o...

Background: Rural and remote patients have reduced access to palliative care, often resulting in interhospital transfers and death a long way from home and family. Katherine Hospital, a 50-bed hospital services a population with high Aboriginality who experience this issue. Aims: To characterise trends in mortality and transfers at a remote hosp...

Background Australia's closest neighbours in the Western Pacific face many procurement, distribution and regulatory challenges providing patients with quality pharmaceuticals on limited budgets. This study tested the hypothesis that some antibiotics being used within the healthcare systems of Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands were s...

Objectives: To determine the clinical and environmental variables associated with frequent presentations by adult patients to a remote Australian hospital emergency department (ED) for reasons other than chronic health conditions. Design: Unmatched case-control study of all adult patients attending Katherine Hospital ED between 1 January and 31...

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of the introduction of a trainee specialist physician into the workforce mix of a rural hospital in the Northern Territory. Methods: A retrospective review comparing clinical and non-clinical outcomes during two corresponding 6-month periods in 2011 and 2012, before and after a FRACP Trainee in General and...

Governments and international agencies need to embrace quality regulation of pharmaceuticals as well as contingency plans.

Synchronous malignancies are rare diagnostic and treatment challenges. Here we present three cases of synchronous ovarian cancer and lymphoma. Both malignancies were recognised in the same histopathology sections. This report discusses diagnosis and management dilemmas with a brief literature review. The simultaneous presentation of ovarian cancer...

To estimate the number and proportion of children in New South Wales affected by parental incarceration, and to describe the health impact of punitive incarceration on the children of prisoners. In 2001, NSW Corrections Health Service conducted a cross-sectional survey of prison inmates randomly selected from each of the 29 prisons in NSW, represen...

1. Describe an outbreak of varicella in a prison system. 2. Highlight the risks of disease transmission within the prison environment. 3. Promote infection control guidelines for high-risk sub-groups within the prison system, including the application of quarantine. Four prisons, one prison hospital, the prison transport system, one courthouse. Num...