They came to the solution of a tele-health service in 2019, where Emergency Consult provided 24-hour urgent care remotely with a team of doctors and nurses treating patients on-demand via web-based video chat.
“When we set it up, we were working in emergency medicine and saw all these people turning up to ED and wondered ‘how do we take ED to the people?
“We thought we could help people who were time poor and who could afford to pay to see a doctor”, she said.
Emergency Consult was then approached by the Waikato DHB during Covid-19, to help support people stuck at home and who needed to see a doctor.
“It quickly became evident that there was a huge demand for remote specialist support from within the healthcare sector itself.”
Emergency Consult was now opening a bricks-and-motar clinic in Pāpāmoa, Tauranga, as a trial because Falconer said the population had mushroomed, and Tauranga Hospital’s ED was under considerable pressure.
“You’ll come in, be quickly seen by a nurse who can either help or direct you through to a virtual consult with a doctor and it will include a team of high-skilled nurses supported by the tele-health model.
“We’re always looking at where the next need is. We know that’s an acute mental health service, paediatrics, and in palliative care.”
Falconer felt humbled to learn her team had nominated her for Emerging Leader of the Year.
“To be a leader you need to have a team. I’ve surrounded myself with people who’ve helped make this journey easy in some ways and certainly enjoyable.
“It was a really nice surprise to find out they’d nominated me and then to read what they’d written. The judging process was a great opportunity for reflection. You do forget how far you’ve come.”
Emergency Consult has grown rapidly with almost 90 staff from an initial start of eight, with a range of healthcare providers utilising the tele-health service today.
Emergency Consult’s team of emergency medicine specialists provided virtual support to hospital EDs, rural clinics, nurse-led clinics, ambulance services and pharmacies.
A different team of senior registered nurses also provided covid care, acute care triage, and aged care support.
Falconer said the tele-health service has been emerging internationally as a cost-effective and convenient means of delivering health care, and they were going a step further by offering 24-hour on-demand care.
The Waikato Chamber of Commerce Business Awards were overseen by a panel of 29 judges who evaluated 76 business entries from Te Kauwhata to Taupō.
The annual awards are run by the Waikato Chamber of Commerce with support from Hamilton developer Foster Construction, and the winners were judged across 11 categories this year.
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