Larissa

Hiya guys
I was just wondering if there is an Aus equivalent to NHS Direct, as a mother of two young children I've used them a fair bit and greatly benefit from not having to run to the doctors for every little thing...

MrsDagboy

Lar ....... what is it?

For me, at least, a description would be helpful, Im not a pom & Dagboys still sleeping

ABCDiamond

If I recall correctly, its a 24 hour phone and internet service run by Nurses, to give advice on most medical questions.

If your comments warrant it, they also arrange an ambulance for you to get to Hospital.

It can down on many unnecessary visits to the doctor.

MrsDagboy

Dagboy wants to know is it a new thing or is it something he just never knew?

I dont know of anything national like that here apart from the Poisons Information line (which I think covers snake/spider bites etc as well as ingesting chemicals), but I have always just rung the local hospital & spoken to a nurse/doctor in casualty/A & E. They will tell you if they think it needs treatment in hospital etc, and, although its not happened to me yet, Im sure they would organise an ambulance for you if you needed it (I think they will anyway). Did the same thing ie call the hospital & speak to someone in Obstetrics when I was pregnant & needed advice as well.

Dagboys suggestion is that, if its an online service, you could always continue using it when you get here, although organising an ambulance may be a bit of a problem .

ABCDiamond

http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/

It is relatively new, I think it came out in 98 or thereabouts.

The best part is the telephone service, talking to an actual nurse, and being able to explain the actual symptoms.

I suppose it would be very similar to ringing the local hospital, didn't even consider doing that here. And never would have considered it in the UK, it would be faster to drive to the Hospital than to get through to someone with time to talk.

I think the NHS direct is for things like "my child has an earache, and she says it hurts a lot, should we take her to the doctor ? "

MrsDagboy

ABC, ok, I have called the hospital when the kids have had a high fever etc for advice, they are always very helpful & I wouldnt hesitate to do it again. Although if it were REALLY basic stuff I might be more likely to ask a pharmacist. Its very helpful at night when nothing else much is available, at least it puts your mind at ease.

ABCDiamond

I just noticed you changed your location to Manly/Wellington Point ! Are you on a boat between the two ?

MrsDagboy

Hahaha, no, on a road between the 2 .

ANA123

I think NHS Direct had an impact on unecesary GP visits in the UK, but anything that sounds like a real concern is advised to be checked at a hospital anyway as the nurses on the phone are only going on verbal symptoms and would always err on the side of caution.
In the UK I was a community nurse and it was a good resource for us to give to people who we knew would otherwise call 999 all weekend!

Buster

When I was living in the UK I worked as IT Tech support for NHS Direct. I have spoken to the IT manager for Qld health and as far as I can make out they are trying to implement something very similar using the same database (CAS).

I have no idea when or IF it will get to a full roll out stage but at least you now know they're looking into it.

Hope that helps


Buster

Edit - typos

Larissa

Thankyou guys - its reassuring that you can get info from the hospital etc. and that there's a poisons information guide. I imagine I'll have to swot up nearer the time about how to identify the different critters and get the relevant numbers to hand.