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GP Assist (Tasmania) is an after hours call centre which provides health care information and advice to patients across Tasmania, and is one of RCNA’s newest affiliates under the RCNA Corporate Partnership program.
GP Assist (Tasmania) is an after hours call centre which provides health care information and advice to patients across Tasmania, and is one of RCNA’s newest affiliates under the RCNA Corporate Partnership program.
GP Assist (Tasmania) consists of a small team of doctors and registered nurses (RNs) who provide health information and advise the most appropriate medical care for patients outside normal working hours for GPs.
Health Call Centre Operations Manager, Elena McShane says the primary goal of the service is to provide a prompt, professional and guaranteed response to after-hours calls from patients seeking medical care or advice.
Elena says the service utilises a unique model of cooperation for a health call centre by seamlessly integrating advice from the RN triage operation centre to seeking the advice of a GP.
It also has the capacity to promptly link patients to a local GP and a range of other local health services when necessary. Health care advice is delivered through information communication technology (ICT) and employs evidence-based decision support software to ensure patients receive clinically sound advice and a secure patient record.
Elena believes that corporate partnership with RCNA has proven a valuable professional step forward for GP Assist Tasmania. “Corporate partnership with RCNA offers our nursing staff a nationally recognised professional source for continuing education.”
“RCNA affiliation offers organisations the opportunity to be part of a nationally recognised and highly regarded organisation which offers nurses Australia-wide ongoing professional development opportunities, ongoing access to influence policy in the greater nursing arena and access to industry researched best-practice publications,” Elena says.
Since its inception in 1999, GP Assist (Tasmania) has been very successful in managing patient care across Tasmania, resulting in less redirection of patients and duplication of services, and also minimising the need to disturb GPs after hours.
RCNA is proud to welcome GP Assist (Tasmania) as a corporate partner, and looks forward to ongoing communication with Elena and her team.
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