The health and safety watchdog will explore the potential of a new phone service for acute, non-urgent medical needs in a bid to reduce pressure on the national emergency phone line.
On Thursday, the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) announced it would start a health-technology assessment of an alternative phone number to the 112/999 phone service.
The assessment is at the request of the Health Service Executive (HSE). It will assess the budget impact and organisational implications of an alternative national phone line, and the findings will be submitted as advice to inform decision-making by the Minister for Health and the HSE.
At the moment in Ireland, people with acute, non-urgent medical care issues can access healthcare through a number of services. These services include attending the GP during office hours or GP out-of-hours services; a local injury unit or an emergency department; or calling 112/999 to access emergency ambulance services.
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When primary care services and local injury units cannot be readily accessed, people with acute, non-urgent care needs who are unwilling or unable to wait either go to a hospital emergency department or call 112 or 999 for an emergency ambulance.
This has contributed to an increased burden on emergency services and departments, Hiqa said.
There may also be people who require care in the emergency department but who defer attending as they do not think this level of care is necessary, or because they expect long waiting times. A national phone service is intended to support the timely care provision in the most appropriate setting.
Telephone advice and/or triage healthcare services with varying degrees of health service integration have been implemented in several countries, including the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Australia, and Canada. In England, the telephone healthcare advice line is known as NHS 111.
Dr Conor Teljeur, Hiqa’s chief scientist, said acute, non-urgent care needs for an injury or illness “can be difficult to distinguish from urgent conditions for someone requiring care”.
“There may be overlap in terms of the symptoms experienced, and the perceived urgency for each person. In many instances, there may be a number of services that could provide appropriate care rather than hospital emergency departments or an emergency ambulance,” he said.
“An alternative telephone service would enable people to speak with a trained operator who would triage the caller and provide self-care advice or direct them to the appropriate healthcare services. Our assessment will look at the implications for service users and the healthcare system of introducing such an alternative phone line.”
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