WESTVIC AFTER HOURS HEALTH ADVICE (formerly GRAMPIANS AFTER HOURS SERVICE)

Overview:

Operating as the Westvic After Hours Health Advice line (1800 641 395), the Westvic After Hours Health Advice Service (WAHA) provides advice to callers between the hours of 6pm and 8.30am seven days a week. Calls are received either directly from the community or via practices or health services who divert incoming calls between these hours.

In 2009, WAHA (formerly GAHS) and Wimmera Hospice Care implemented a trial for GAHS to provide telephone advice to palliative care patients and their carers using localised palliative care protocols. In 2010 this service is being extended to other regional palliative care services through collaboration with the Grampians Region and Loddon Mallee Palliative Care Consortia After Hours Project.

The Service:

  • Has an integrated care system that incorporates triage by experienced nurses and ensures the continuity of care with the patient’s local GP, palliative care and residential aged care services
  • Provides up-skilling for rural nurses, with over 100 nurses trained in telephone triage
  • Ensures continuity of care as practices or palliative care and aged residential care services are informed of their patients who accessed the service, including patients who have been advised to seek follow-up care the next day
  • A trial for after hours support for a Residential Aged Care facility has also commenced
  • Has provided a means to strengthen and increase local health workforce capacity through a regional cooperative and partnered approach
  • Has been replicated within the Central Highlands region of Victoria
  • Is monitored and supported by a quality framework to ensure patient safety

Evaluation:

WAHA has reduced after hours calls to GPs by over 60%. Forty-nine percent of calls are handled by a triage nurse over the phone. A further 12% are asked to attend the Emergency Department (ED) and are seen by the rostered nurse. Ultimately only 39% of calls require GP contact. Access to WAHA is highly valued by GPs and often stated as a reason for working in the region.

Resources:

  • Telephone Triage Service Delivery Kit.
  • Information packages are available for General Practitioners/Practice Managers, Palliative Care Services, Health Service (Triage site) and Residential Aged Care Facilities. This service delivery kit provides information regarding governance, quality assurance, training, protocols, documentation and other key lessons learned during the development of the service.

For your complimentary copy please contact:

Deidre Rennick

After Hours/Business Development Manager

  • Nurse Telephone Triage Procedure Manual (2008). Provides information for service delivery by WAHA telephone triage nurses. Not available for download.
  • GAHS Local Telephone Triage Protocols: Version 3 (2009). Reviewed biannually as part of quality assurance, these protocols have been adapted from, and must be used in conjunction with, Briggs, J.K. Telephone Triage Protocols for Nurses, 3rd ed. 2007. Adaptation has occurred to ensure local appropriateness. The GAHS protocols and Briggs resource book may be purchased as a package from West Vic Division of General Practice. Version 4 will be available December 2011.
  • After Hours Nursing Telephone Triage: Clinical Guidelines Palliative Care (2009). Developed by Wimmera Hospice Care in consultation with the Grampians Regional Palliative Care Team, these protocols are used in conjunction with the Therapeutic Guidelines: Palliative Care Version 3 (2010). For further information contact Wimmera Hospice Care Wimmera Health Care Group - Hospice

WAHA Brochure Service brochure for consumers

Coming Soon:

  • Westvic After Hours Health Advice telephone Health Services Triage Protocols, Version 4, 2011

Available in December 2011. These will replace Version 3 (2009). If you currently hold a copy of Version 3, it will no longer be valid after 31 December 2011.

Sample-Version 4 Protocol Book 2011

the new version has been expanded to include over 100 protocols and guidelines with link to references. Printed in full colour, with almost 300 pages of telephone triage advice relevant to our rural and regional areas.Spiral bound so book can lay flat for hands-free use. Comprehensive cross-referenced Table of Contents to assist staff to find the right protocol for the presenting symptom.

To receive your copy or for further enquiries, please contact:

Deidre Rennick

After Hours/Business Development Manager

  • Revised Nurse Telephone triage Procedure Manual

Interested in working as a Telephone Triage Nurse?

We utilise a pool of experienced nurses employed by health services across the region. Casual (no minimum shifts) or part time inquiries welcome. Telephone Triage Nurse - Position Description

Further Information:

Please contact the WAHA Manager: Deidre Rennick

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