In the Hunter New England Health region the two main trauma hospitals are the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle and the Tamworth Base Hospital and we have aircraft based in close proximity to each of these centres.

These hospitals are described as being the hub of a spoked wheel, with the regional hospitals being the spokes, radiating from the centre, feeding the hub.

When patients from the regional hospitals need transporting to a main centre a specialist retrieval team, consisting of a doctor and intensive care nurse crew the aircraft. Additional medical equipment is also carried and in the case of transporting a newborn baby, the "neonatal unit" is effectively a mobile neonatal intensive care unit.

Additionally, patients from these centres are sometimes required to be transported to a specialist hospital in other metropolitan areas. These include: Royal North Shore Hospital for patients with spinal injuries, Concord Hospital for burns patients and Westmead Hospital for young children.

For more information about Hunter New England Health visit their website on www.hnehealth.nsw.gov.au.