Healthcare professionals from across the region are today wrapping up a two-day conference in Dubbo.

The KICARE (kidney, cardiac and respiratory) conference is an open discussion on evidence and information on the health problems.

Dubbo Base Hospital cardiologist Doctor Roger Chatoor said the most common problem was an all-round patient.

“Lung disease is one of the biggest problems here because so many people out west are smokers,” he said. “But that leads to other problems that become prevalent, so a lot of the time people are really diabetic hypertensive smokers.”

Dubbo Base Hospital had more than 650 admissions related to heart disease in the 2009/2010 financial year.

But while Dr Chatoor considered that figure as average, he said the west was complex, which was something that stretched to every remote area in Australia.

Their evidence had found that many would not travel into centres like Dubbo if they needed medical assistance.

“There are big cultural barriers for Indigenous Australians in seeking help or using conventional means,” he said. “The only model that works is us going out to them, and it’s these people that are really benefiting the most.”