Health Minister Opens New Health Call Centre

Speaking at the opening event, Mr McGinty acknowledged the importance of McKesson’s health call centre to the Western Australian health system, and highlighted the success of the partnership between McKesson and WA Health over the past seven years.

“Having worked together to assess and develop programs to meet the health needs of our population, McKesson’s health call centre now plays an integral role in the delivery of health services in Western Australia.  Since its inception seven years ago, the call centre has handled more than 1.5 million calls.

“The health call centre delivers health information and advice via a range of services including WA HealthDirect and Northern Territory HealthDirect.  Both these statewide services offer 24 hour access to an experienced registered nurse who is trained to deliver appropriate health advice.

“This is tremendously reassuring for people who live in more remote regions of the state, or for those who have health concerns or questions at any time of the day or night.

“McKesson’s highly-trained staff help direct callers to the most appropriate health service for their needs.  This removes some of the burden from our hospital emergency departments while at the same time, ensures those who need that level of care are directed to that facility immediately.

“I congratulate McKesson on continuing to provide such a high standard of health care, and wish them every success in their future business,” Mr McGinty said.

Dr Matthew Cullen, co-president, McKesson Asia-Pacific Pty Ltd was also speaking at the opening “The new call centre has seating capacity for around 60 staff, an increase of 12% from the capacity of our previous premises.  This is a direct result of the growth in McKesson’s business and the increasing demand for the range of services we provide,” Dr Cullen explained.

Also launched today is the Department’s Healthy@home Phone Coaching Program, a telephone-based service to assist people with diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) better manage their condition in the home environment.

Funded by WA Health, the program employs qualified nurses who will provide coaching and advice over the phone to a sample of 800 people with diabetes and 200 with COPD.

The nurses will encourage patients to take an active role in managing their health and their advice will complement the health care provided by the patient’s general practitioner.

During the official launch of the service, Mr McGinty reminded those gathered of the need for Governments to plan for the changing health needs of our ageing population and to consider alternative ways to deliver health care services.

“The management of chronic diseases is currently one of the greatest costs to our health system, and health providers around the globe are searching for more effective ways to manage people with these conditions.

“The Healthy@Home Phone Coaching Service is part of a wider series of system changes that will help relieve the growing burden on our tertiary hospitals.