A new phone monitoring program from SA Health’s Wellbeing SA, which calls vulnerable South Australians with COVID-19 twice a day, is proving to provide additional support to those isolating safely at home.
Announced by Premier Steven Marshall, the COVID Home Telephone Monitoring Program is supporting the work of the COVID Response Care Team (CRCT) in monitoring the more vulnerable members of the community who have COVID-19.
“As more South Australians become infected with COVID, the research shows at least 95 per cent of them can complete their 10 days of isolation safely at home,” Mr Marshall said.
He said the new phone monitoring Program would assist people who required a bit more support at home.
“The Program is not only monitoring a person’s overall health and wellbeing, but also their ability to access food, medication and other vital services, providing advice and assistance where necessary,” Mr Marshall said.
He said that in addition to the new phone service, Wellbeing SA would begin admitting patients who were COVID-19 positive to My Home Hospital, providing hospital-level care from the comfort of a patient’s home.
Chief Executive of Wellbeing SA, Lyn Dean said people were being referred to the COVID Home Telephone Monitoring Program after an initial health and wellbeing assessment from CRCT.
“They will then receive a detailed health assessment over the phone through the Program and typically two phone calls a day to make sure they have everything they need to safely isolate in the community for the duration of their isolation period,” Ms Dean said.
“People who develop a clinical concern that cannot be managed in their home, or require urgent clinical review, will be escalated back to the CRCT team for management and closer monitoring,” she said.
