Healthdirect Australia, otherwise known as just Healthdirect and formerly the National Health Call Centre Network, is the national health advice service in Australia.[1] Funded by the Australian Government and all state and territory governments, Healthdirect provides a number of 24/7 health helplines to all Australians.[2]
The Healthdirect website provides general health advice, a symptom checker which compares symptoms against clinical presentations, and a health directory which lists many primary, secondary and tertiary care services.[3]
History
In February 2006, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) signed a Heads of Agreement to establish the National Health Call Centre Network (NHCCN). The NHCCN commenced delivering services in July 2007, with its core service operating under a single national name, healthdirect Australia, and national phone number - 1800 022 222. In December 2012, the NHCCN changed its trading name to Healthdirect Australia, reflecting the organisation’s evolution from procuring and managing telephone triage services[4] to offering multiple services with integrated telephone and online channels. This was followed in November 2015 by the change of the registered name to Healthdirect Australia Limited. After a review of after-hours primary health care in July 2015, Healthdirect Australia began to operate locally tailored after-hours services and new GP advice and support lines.[5] Since March 2020, Healthidrect has been operating the National Coronavirus Helpline (NCH) providing telephone advice to the public. It has handled more than four million calls.[6]
Services
Healthdirect Australia's services include a helpline available 24 hours a day,[7]an after-hours general practitioner (GP) helpline,[8][9] the healthdirect website (which provides free health information),[10][11] an app for mobile devices,[12][13] and a Symptom Checker (a guided, online self-triage tool allowing visitors to initiate their health enquiry online).[14][15] The Pregnancy, Birth and Baby service includes a telephone helpline and a website, providing support to families of children aged up to 5 years.[16][17] Healthdirect services also include the National Health Services Directory (NHSD), [18] Video Call service [19][20][21] and COVID-19 services and tools.[22][23][24]
^Sprivulis, P; Carey, M; Rouse, I (February 2004). "Compliance with advice and appropriateness of emergency presentation following contact with the HealthDirect telephone triage service". Emergency Medicine Australasia. 16 (1): 35–40. doi:10.1111/j.1742-6723.2004.00538.x. PMID15239753.
^Ng, Joseph Y.; Fatovich, Daniel M.; Turner, Valender F.; Wurmel, Jennifer A.; Skevington, Sally A.; Philipps, Michael R. (November 2012). "Appropriateness of healthdirect referrals to the emergency department compared with self-referrals and GP referrals". Medical Journal of Australia. 197 (9): 498–502. doi:10.5694/mja12.10689. PMID23121585. S2CID9916006.
