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Ideally, we wouldn’t get sick outside our regular GP’s opening hours and be able to get immediate treatment from a doctor we know and trust. If this was the case in all circumstances, after-hours healthcare wouldn’t exist.
Yet, as we all know this is never the case and that’s why we need home doctors. Home doctors operate in the after-hours and treat patients in their home when their regular GPs are closed. Home visits Not that long ago, doctors would often take care of patients in their homes. Up until the early 1960s, home visits by a doctor weren’t uncommon. As medical technology advanced, doctors transformed how they work and got rid of the home visits, making medical treatment a lot like what we know them to be today. Our home doctors have modernised the old home visit concept, and now home doctors are readily available to deal with Australian’s after-hours health issues. During a home visit, home doctors can treat patients who need to be seen before their regular GP opens again in the morning. This can be because of the urgency, severity, or symptoms of their illness. Home doctors can treat anyone, but the service is particularly useful for Australia’s most vulnerable (including babies and the elderly). |
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Acute and episodic illnesses
When home doctor visits first became less common, patients turned to their local emergency rooms for urgent and reliable care in the event of acute or episodic illness.
This caused emergency room visits to increase, putting excessive pressure on hospitals, who had to prioritise the treatment of life threatening illnesses while still meeting demand. Patients were often leaving dissatisfied with the quality and speed of the care they had received.
Home doctors understand that some illnesses are serious enough to require immediate treatment, but are not so serious that it’s necessary for you to get to hospital.
A home doctor visit bridges this divide and ensures you receive the care you need, when you need it.
Some of the most common illnesses the home doctors treat include influenza, bronchiolitis, croup, and viruses. Patients with asthma, gastro, aches, pains, and sprains also regularly receive treatment.
Diagnosis and treatment
Once a home doctor arrives, you will be examined as you would by your regular GP. You’ll be asked some questions to help the home doctor determine a diagnosis.
Once a diagnosis has been formed, the home doctor will recommend treatment or suggest some things you can do to ease your symptoms and provide some relief. The home doctors always carry a small amount of medications with them, so that you’re able to start your treatment as soon as possible.
After the visit, your regular GP will receive a clinical report, so they can stay up to date on your healthcare needs. Part of the home doctor’s recommendations might include following up with your GP for further treatment or tests.
When home doctor visits first became less common, patients turned to their local emergency rooms for urgent and reliable care in the event of acute or episodic illness.
This caused emergency room visits to increase, putting excessive pressure on hospitals, who had to prioritise the treatment of life threatening illnesses while still meeting demand. Patients were often leaving dissatisfied with the quality and speed of the care they had received.
Home doctors understand that some illnesses are serious enough to require immediate treatment, but are not so serious that it’s necessary for you to get to hospital.
A home doctor visit bridges this divide and ensures you receive the care you need, when you need it.
Some of the most common illnesses the home doctors treat include influenza, bronchiolitis, croup, and viruses. Patients with asthma, gastro, aches, pains, and sprains also regularly receive treatment.
Diagnosis and treatment
Once a home doctor arrives, you will be examined as you would by your regular GP. You’ll be asked some questions to help the home doctor determine a diagnosis.
Once a diagnosis has been formed, the home doctor will recommend treatment or suggest some things you can do to ease your symptoms and provide some relief. The home doctors always carry a small amount of medications with them, so that you’re able to start your treatment as soon as possible.
After the visit, your regular GP will receive a clinical report, so they can stay up to date on your healthcare needs. Part of the home doctor’s recommendations might include following up with your GP for further treatment or tests.
