$6 million Health Call Centre to be trialled in metro area

1/8/98

Western Australians will have access to a new free call health service that will provide better after hours assistance and counselling 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The establishment of a $6 million Health Call Centre was announced today by Health Minister John Day and the Federal Health Minister Dr Michael Wooldridge.

Under a joint funding agreement to be signed by the Commonwealth and State Governments, the Health Call Centre will help address the shortage of services in some areas by providing, or co-ordinating, responses according to different health needs.

"The call centre will benefit all Western Australians because the services offered will make it easier to get help or information when it is urgently needed," Mr Day said.

"Services to be provided by the centre will include telephone triage, health counselling and co-ordination of necessary health services.

"This is particularly important for health services after business hours, which is a problem for many people in the outer suburbs and in country towns especially."

Mr Day said that the Health Call Centre would initially operate in the Perth metropolitan area, but would be extended to rural and remote districts if the trial was successful. The centre is expected to field 300,000 calls in its year of operation.

People who call the free 1800 number will be connected to an experienced nurse who will assess the level of critical urgency and provide immediate advice.

"Where professional help is required, the caller will be advised of the closest available service by the operator, drawing on a geographic database of health care providers," Mr Day said.

"If the patient requires a home visit or transfer to hospital, this can also be co-ordinated with medical practitioners and ambulance services from this one simple call.

"Direct links to other health care providers will allow calls to be directed to further specialist advice as needed, rather than the patient or carer having to make separate calls themselves."

Dr Wooldridge expressed his full support for the Health Call Centre and said it was another way that the Commonwealth and Western Australian Governments were working together to find more innovative ways to meet the community's health needs.

"The call centre is an exciting proposition because it is likely to lead to a major shift in the way health services work together as teams," he said.

"With central operators co-ordinating all the elements of care following a phone call, and in some cases solving a problem with simple advice, health care will be better integrated and more widely available.

"This is also a strong co-operative relationship between the Federal and State Governments with both committing $3 million towards the infrastructure, establishment and operational costs during the trial period."

Media contacts: Mark Thompson 9322 2311

Bill Royce, Dr Wooldridge's office, (02) 6277 7220