The 13 Health Phone Line
Expert advice to help Queenslanders deal with non-life threatening medical situations is just a phone call away, Premier Peter Beattie and Health Minister Stephen Robertson announced today.
Mr Beattie said the State Government’s new 24 hour health hotline - 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84) - became available to all Queenslanders on Monday at 8.30am.
“13 HEALTH has proved to be a great success in North Queensland and taken well over 16,000 calls since we launched it there in February,” said Mr Beattie.
“Now the service is available to all Queenslanders, wherever they live, for the cost of a local call.”
“Experienced registered nurses staffing the hotline will provide callers with clinically-based triage advice, health information and referral services 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“The hotline is designed to provide people with quick, reliable advice over the phone if they or a family member suddenly get sick and they are unsure what to do.
“Instead of rushing off in the middle of the night with a child to a hospital emergency department and having to wait for advice on something that turns out to be no more than a tummy ache, help is at the end of a phone line.
“With only 2,600 of the 16,600 callers to the North Queensland service being advised to attend an emergency department, many of the 14,000 other callers would have been saved a trip to hospital - and the queues at emergency departments would have been reduced.
“For example, a child may wake in the middle of the night with a fever or stomach pains and mum is unsure whether to rush off to hospital.
“By calling 13 HEALTH, mum will receive clinically-based advice on the best course of action to take; including whether to attend a hospital emergency department, see a local GP, or administer home care.
“I stress this service is for non-life threatening situations only and not meant to replace medical consultations.
“People with life-threatening emergencies should always call Triple O for urgent assistance from the Queensland Ambulance Service,” Mr Beattie said.
Mr Robertson said 13 HEALTH honours a government election commitment and will cost $25 million to operate over three years.
“Queensland Health has 34 clinical and registered nurses staffing the hotline at a Brisbane call centre.
“They are all highly experienced nurses recruited from both Queensland Health and the private sector.
“None have been recruited at the expense of public hospital emergency departments.
“13 HEALTH represents an extra level of health care we are providing to Queenslanders and will also help ease pressure on busy hospital emergency departments.
“The public response proves there is a community need and demand for the hotline service.”
Mr Robertson said 13 HEALTH attracted 16,604 calls during its first two months of operation in North Queensland.
A breakdown of triage calls include:
·2,587 or 18.6% of calls were advised to attend a hospital emergency department.
·1,721 or 12.4% of calls were advised to see their GP in 1-4 hours.
·1,456 or 10.5% were advised to see their GP within 12 hours.
·1,127 or 8.1% of calls were transferred to the Queensland Ambulance Service.
·969 or of 7% of calls were advised to see a GP within 1-3 days.
·511 or 3.7% of calls were provided with self-management advice.
A further 32% of callers indicating they needed triage advice actually had no symptoms but needed information clarified, such as preparation for day surgery, understanding medication and post-operative care.
The most common symptoms raised by callers include: infant or toddler fever, adult abdominal pain, vomiting, unwell or irritable infant, headache, chest pain, insect bite, dizziness or vertigo, rash, back pain and lumps.
