HEALTHDIRECT

Mr PICCOLO (Light) (14:24): My question is to the Minister for Health. Will the minister advise the house how effective the introduction of the HealthDirect call centre has been in helping South Australian's with their medical inquiries?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (14:24): I thank the member for his question: I acknowledge his very strong interest in health issues. The joint state and commonwealth funded HealthDirect call centre provides South Australians with access to high quality health advice and information 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, over the telephone. Since it was publicly launched in this state on 30 January this year, the call centre has received nearly 30,000 calls and we anticipate that, over time, the centre will build up to about 180,000 calls annually.

I am advised that calls are answered, on average, within 18 seconds, and an average call lasts for eight minutes. For the benefit of members, the number to call HealthDirect Australia is 1800 022 222, and callers are able to speak to an experienced registered nurse to discuss their illness or condition, or the condition or illness of a member of their family, and receive advice. This is providing great comfort and reassurance to many South Australians, particularly those in remote areas.

The HealthDirect call centre also allows people to determine whether they should go straight to hospital or a GP, or whether their illness or condition could be managed by a GP the following day or, indeed, whether they can manage it themselves. Phone calls to emergency departments seeking health advice have decreased significantly as a result of the public launch of HealthDirect. If it did nothing else, this will be one of the great things, because emergency departments receive many phone calls on a daily basis and, of course, while they are answering the phone they are not dealing with the people who are in the emergency department.

Furthermore, 40 per cent of callers expected that they would have to seek urgent care. However, following contact with the call centre, only 20 per cent of callers are advised to seek urgent care. So, this obviously helps to take pressure off our emergency departments. Only 3 per cent of all calls require an ambulance, and 14 per cent are advised to go to an emergency department. Overall, about 65 per cent of calls are for health triage and 35 per cent are for health information.

Redirecting non-urgent and routine visits away from emergency departments is a key principle of our health reform strategies. Treating people in emergency departments is expensive. The cost of an average ED attendance in metropolitan hospitals in the 2006-07 financial year, for example, was $340. So, if we can reduce the number of people who have to go, of course, we reduce those costs. Aside from the costs of treating non-urgent patients in emergency departments, it is equally important to maintain capacity in EDs and to ensure that existing capacity is used for emergencies.

By providing free and easily accessible information, we hope to make it easier for people who typically do not manage their own health well to access health advice, which can lead to the early detection and treatment of medical problems. The HealthDirect call centre has received extremely positive feedback from our community. South Australians have praised the quality of service received and have been comforted by speaking with a registered nurse.