Critically injured Territorians will be forced to drive up to four hours to reach emergency medical treatment if the NT Government pushes ahead with plans to shut at least four health clinics in remote Indigenous communities.

Key points: Independent Member for Stuart Scott McConnell is calling on the NT Government to keep the four clinics open

Independent Member for Stuart Scott McConnell is calling on the NT Government to keep the four clinics open Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation NT and the affected communities were not consulted over the decision

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation NT and the affected communities were not consulted over the decision NT Health Minister Natasha Fyles said all four would re-open in early 2020, but had no exact date

Central Australia Health Service will close clinics in Alcoota, Epenarra, Haasts Bluff and Yuelamu— with a combined population of about 770 — from mid-December.

The Yuelamu Health Centre will remain shut for three weeks and the remainder are keeping their doors closed for an indefinite period of time.

In the event of an emergency, patients in each community will have to drive about two hours to the nearest health clinic — and residents in Alcoota may be forced to drive up to four hours on rough roads to reach the health centre in Harts Range.

Haasts Bluff health practitioner Jillian Kantawarra said that wasn't good enough.

Map Map of Alice Springs, Haasts Bluff, Yuelamu, Epenarra, Alcoota

Ms Kantawarra said on the average day, about a dozen patients came to the Haasts Bluff clinic — many of whom had complex, long-term health issues and needed regular check-ups.

"The clinics need to stay open, we've got elders and we've got lots of middle-aged people that have renal problems," she said.

"And also the young kids got chronic problems as well and bronchitis and are asthmatics."

Ms Kantawarra said the clinic only had one car, which meant people in the community who had no car of their own had no way of travelling two hours to the Papunya Health Centre for treatment.

"It's going to be hard," she said.

"It's going to be a big problem when it rains a lot in the community — when it gets wet it makes them sicker.

"They get scared when they've got a problem with their kids or the adults — people are worried."

The road into the small community of Ikuntji, or Haasts Bluff, in Central Australia. ( ABC News: Tom Maddocks )

Last year, Ms Kantawarra said the health clinic in Haasts Bluff closed over Christmas and stayed shut for two months.

She's worried about the long-term health outcomes for sick people in her community if the health clinic stays shut again for months.

Nurses union voices its concerns

Closure details: Alcoota: Visiting service from December 20, 2019 to indefinite. Emergency services provided by Harts Range Health Centre — 114.9km, up to a 4hr drive

Visiting service from December 20, 2019 to indefinite. Emergency services provided by Harts Range Health Centre — 114.9km, up to a 4hr drive Epenarra: Visiting service from December 13, 2019 to indefinite. Emergency services provided by Canteen Creek Health Centre —59.3km, up to a 2.5hr drive

Visiting service from December 13, 2019 to indefinite. Emergency services provided by Canteen Creek Health Centre —59.3km, up to a 2.5hr drive Haasts Bluff: Visiting service from December 20, 2019 to indefinite. Emergency services provided by Papunya Health Centre — 47.3km, up to a 2hr drive

Visiting service from December 20, 2019 to indefinite. Emergency services provided by Papunya Health Centre — 47.3km, up to a 2hr drive Yuelamu: Visiting service from December 20, 2019 to January 13, 2020. Emergency services provided by Yuendumu Health Centre — 69.8km, up to a 2hr drive

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation NT Branch Secretary Yvonne Falckh was horrified by the proposal and said she had not been consulted.

"Months ago, I asked the department what are you doing for Christmas and New Year and they tell me, they have no problems this year," she said.

"What I would like to see is a bit of honesty and transparency and stop hiding things from the public and the people who should know."

Ms Falckh said although the population in each community was small, she was concerned about the survival prospects for patients in the event of an emergency.

"If there is a car crash or a stabbing, who is going to provide that care?" she said.

Ms Falckh said emotions ran high over Christmas, a lot of alcohol was consumed and there was a demand for health care in every community.

"Christmas can either be joyous or an absolute misery — it's a worry," she said.

Independent Member for Stuart Scott McConnell wants the NT Government to keep the clinics open over the Christmas period. ( ABC News: Jano Gibson )

Scott McConnell calls on NT Health to keep clinics open

The plans to shut the remote clinics without community consultation has also angered independent Member for Stuart Scott McConnell.

"The people that need to be communicated with about these closures are the people in those communities," he said.

Mr McConnell is calling on the NT Government to keep the clinics open and has accused NT Health of prioritising spending in the Greater Darwin areas.

"It makes me feel really, really angry, it makes me feel a state of despair.

"We need to be outraged over the closure of these clinics at some of the time we need them the most."

Mr McConnell said the planned closures would have a flow-on effect to larger Territory towns, with residents losing their faith in healthcare options in their community and choosing to travel to Alice Springs or Tennant Creek for Christmas.

"And when they do that, it has all sorts of pressures in these regional towns as well," he added.

AMA NT say closures an indication of staffing issues

Despite these safety fears, Australian Medical Association NT president Dr Rob Parker wasn't too concerned about the planned closures.

Dr Parker explained staffing remote communities across the Territory was a major challenge for the NT Government, but over the festive season, as health workers made plans to see their families, already stretched resources were stretched tighter.

"It is very difficult to get remote staff and nobody wants to work over Christmas — everyone wants to go back home and spend time with their family," he said.

"Central Australia is really stretched and sometimes as a health manager you just need to do what you need to do to keep things working."

Health Minister Natasha Fyles said the clinics were all expected to be open in early 2020 ( ABC News )

While closing remote clinics "wasn't optimal", Dr Parker said as long as patients were able to get prescriptions filled, the communities would most likely manage over the closure period.

Health Minister Natasha Fyles said to keep residents safe, Central Australian Health Services would continue to provide emergency and scheduled primary health care services to remote health clinics affected by staff leave.

"There will be meetings held in each community about the Christmas closures between now and the December closing date. All clinics are expected to open again by early 2020," she said.

An NT Health spokeswoman said there were no plans to permanently close clinics, and it prepared for potential staff shortages well in advance.

"Special consideration is always taken to ensure that those communities that are impacted can be readily supported by a larger health centre in a nearby community," she said.