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Telephone Service Still Aiding GPs
Telephone Service Still Aiding GPs 18 Months Down The Track
Te Kuiti GP Keith Buswell says a Waikato District Health Board-funded telephone triage service has changed the way GPs work in the King Country town for the better.
The service, which sees patients ring their GP after 5pm to be put through to a nurse who listens to their concerns and either provides advice on the phone or refers them on, started as a trial 18 months ago.
Dr Buswell, from Te Kuiti Medical Centre said his practice gets significantly fewer calls after hours now.
“The triage service generally deals with those things that can be dealt with on the phone.
“It means we are not disturbed after we go to bed by things we don't have to get up to. In my experience, the telephone triage service rarely rings us after midnight.”
Waikato DHB change manager Grant O’Brien, who worked to implement the service throughout the Waikato DHB region over the past two years, said the telephone triage services can help with most calls after 5pm.
“Often people ring because they’re concerned – young mothers are a good example – and they just need reassurance that what they’re doing is right and advice as to how symptoms can be relieved.
“Some people just want company and someone to talk to. The triage nurses on the other end of the phone are only too happy to provide every assistance and assurance that they can, and we are starting to see great benefits from that.”
Te Kuiti Medical Centre’s base is onsite at Te Kuiti Hospital, an unusual situation compared to most other medical centres. It means some of Dr Buswell’s patients turn up at the hospital’s emergency department after hours.
“Ideally they should ring us first where they will be assessed by the triage service. If a doctor is required, the telephone service will arrange that with us,” he said.
“Unless there is an emergency, treatment should be coordinated through the telephone triage service, and if the nurses can provide advice on the phone they will; otherwise the caller will be referred to their GP the following day and if it’s an emergency, to emergency services.”
Mr O’Brien said the reason the after hours telephone service duplicates medical centre phone numbers was so that people would only have one number to remember, not two.
ENDS
Waikato District Health Board
Healthy People. Excellent Care
Waikato District Health Board (DHB) employs over 6500 people and plans, funds and provides hospital and health services to more than 391,770 people in a region covering eight per cent of New Zealand.
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