By Ashleigh Fielding | posted on March 23, 2018
A TRIAL of after-hours health care will commence at Albany Health Campus next month to alleviate increasing pressure on the hospital’s emergency department.
From April, an after-hours GP and nurse practitioner service will be offered to patients in aged and palliative care facilities, as well as those receiving care at home, to divert them from the emergency department.
The service was officially launched on Monday by Minister for Health Roger Cook, Member for O’Connor Rick Wilson, Member for Albany Peter Watson, WA Primary Health Alliance officials and the group of Albany general practitioners behind the after-hours service idea.
The program will be trialled for 12 months and be both mobile and in a permanent setup, in a clinic adjacent to the current emergency department.
The general public will be able to access the after-hours health care clinic from June, and it will operate during evenings, weekends and public holidays.
The service will offer treatment to patients who require urgent care, but whose conditions could be treated by a GP during normal hours.
Health minister Roger Cook said the release of the Sustainable Health Review Interim Report highlighted a need for the service.
“There is a need to improve care in our communities, to reduce costs and wastes and to reduce the pressure on our emergency departments,” he said.
“This new service is about better access to GP and nurse practitioner services for patients and carers, which means better quality of care for non-emergency patients and not having to wait in busy emergency departments.”
WA Primary Health Alliance CEO Learne Durrington said the new service would be a great “all-round outcome”, as it avoids distressing scenarios for sick patients and allows emergency department staff to focus on serious cases.
“The on-call service will ensure people who are frail and unwell can be treated in the comfort of their own home, care home or hospice and avoid unnecessary and costly trips by ambulance to hospital,” she said.
“Importantly, the patient’s usual doctor will be fully informed about the treatments that occurred.”
The trial after-hours health care service will complement existing Albany GP services and use experienced nurse practitioners and GPs.
