Hotline

ALP leader Mark Latham

What does a worried parent do at midnight when the baby is crying and seems to have a fever?

Where does the elderly person who thinks their cold or flu is deteriorating into pneumonia turn for help in the middle of the night?

And what to do about the injury from the evening sports session or the weekend home handyman activities?

What do most people do when they have an after-hours medical problem? Unfortunately, in these days of deteriorating medical access, most people vacillate. While anxious family hover and while everyone debates calling the ambulance, or driving to a public hospital or giving aspirin, and while there's a brief anger that the days of calling a doctor to the house are gone, very valuable treatment time is frittered away.

Wouldn't it be great if help was just a phone call away? What a relief if a nurse or doctor was always available on the other end of the phone. To help us do things right when our family, friends or ourselves face out of business hours health troubles?

The Labor Party has come up with a health policy that will take away some of the inevitable fear that comes when those of us who aren't trained, need to deal with an unexpected out-of-hours medical situation - usually involving a loved one. Without having to worry if we have enough cash available.

If Mark Latham gets over the line, we can wave that fear goodbye. As part of their health policy, Labor's planning to set up Medicare After Hours:

• A single national telephone number linking callers to local telephone advice lines staffed by nurses, with a G.P on hand for more difficult cases;

•Medicare after hours clinics co-located with public hospitals;

•Accredited after hours bulk billing GP clinics in the community.

So, no matter where a patient lives in Australia they will have prompt, affordable, access to after hours care.

When that anxious mother, or an ill elderly person or a bloke with an injury rings the after hours hotline they will speak immediately to a trained nurse or doctor.

The nurse will assess whether the person can manage their own condition after receiving proper advice, whether they need to see a GP or whether their condition is so serious they need to get to hospital.

If it's decided the patient needs to see a doctor or have a home visit, the nurse at the After Hours Hotline will arrange it through the appropriate local service.

For the benefit of older Australians, Labor will also integrate the telephone hotline service with existing GP home visiting services - for instance, to residents of aged care institutions and other frail or aged patients.

Under the Howard Government the sad story is that many people in these situations go without care or end up at the emergency department of the local hospital - creating further problems in the health system.

Labor will be spending $20 million to fund the after hours hotline. Another $80 million will be spent to fund the Medicare after hours clinics as well as Medicare teams for health hotspots.