Telehealth system extended for another six months
During the coronavirus pandemic more than 30 million telehealth services have been provided, with the federal government now moving to ensure the services will stick around awhile longer.
Victoria
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The telehealth system which has helped 3.2 million Victorians during the coronavirus crisis will be extended for another six months.
Scott Morrison will on Friday announce a $2bn commitment to subsidise medical care which can be accessed from home until the end of March.
More than 30 million telehealth services have been provided during the pandemic, including 18.8 million short appointments with GPs.
Victorians have accessed 10.9 million services, more than any other state, backed by Medicare subsidies totalling $589m.
The extension covers access to general practitioner, nursing, midwifery, allied health and mental health services, as well as specialists such as physicians, geriatricians and neurosurgeons.
The $2bn package will also support free COVID-19 tests, home medicine delivery services, 148 GP-led respiratory clinics and extra purchases of personal protective equipment, as well as the continuation of a nationwide agreement to ensure access to private hospital beds.
“By providing telehealth and home delivery medicine services, we are reducing the risk of exposure of COVID-19 in the community while also supporting people in isolation to get the care they need,” the Prime Minister said.
“Importantly this also includes mental health services, delivered over the phone, by trained specialists and GPs.”
Health Minister Greg Hunt said the government had delivered a “10-year plan on telehealth within 10 days”.
Almost a third of GP services are now being provided by telehealth.
There have also been 994,494 home medicine deliveries across the country, including 274,391 in Victoria.
Sonia Middleton, the head of allied health and education at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, said telehealth had been essential in keeping patients connected with health providers during the pandemic.
“We see over 6000 patients a year and since late March we’ve moved all our one-on-one sessions across to telehealth,” she said.
“That has allowed us to continue seeing all our clients for their chronic disease, weight and heart management.”
“It’s also allowed us to reach more people – we’re state based – but we’ve had requests from all over Australia.”
She said the institute had received a positive response from clients of all ages, with many wishing to continue the virtual consultations going forward.
“I think that people value that support,” she said.
Mr Morrison said: “We will continue to provide Australians with critical health care and support to protect both lives and livelihoods.”
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