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Letter to the Editor - Herald Sun - Nurse on Call
The fault is not in the service provided by the nurses but in the lack of connection of the hotline with local doctors and other primary health care providers.
The communities of the Grampians and Central Highlands enjoy excellent after hour telephone support through a nurse telephone triage service wholly integrated with local doctors and other health services. These services have reduced emergency on call workload of the local doctors by 30 – 50 per cent.
In spite of AMA Victoria’s warnings, the conclusions of evaluations of interstate and international experience, which all point to local service models providing the most efficient and effective services for communities, the state government chose to invest $8.5 million in establishing a centralised service.
It is concerning that the government has no idea how many cases are reflected in Sally Morrell’s experience because her child was not admitted to the hospital’s emergency department.
Clearly the establishment and ongoing costs of this service and its impact on our hospitals, ambulance service and doctors needs to be thoroughly evaluated and the proven model of local services supported, especially in rural communities.
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