New service a time-saver
Families able to access care virtually
THE Toowoomba Hospital’s new Telehealth service is proving invaluable for one family.
Before its roll-out in the region, Zenia Taylor-Kellock and her 14-year-old son Walker Taylor would set their alarms for 4am to make the trip to Brisbane for his meetings with consultants.
That meant wasting time and money.
Now, however, they can access the same level of medical care from the Toowoomba Hospital.
Telehealth allows them to consult with any medical professional virtually through a video link and assistance from medical staff at the Toowoomba Hospital.
“We can come here and within an hour we are done and home,” Ms Taylor-Kellock said.
“If we go to Brisbane we’ll miss an entire day of work and school.”
Since it was first introduced in August, 70 people have signed up to use the service to avoid the lengthy trip down the Warrego Highway for specialist care.
“That’s stopping all the people from having to travel all that way and it is just so much more convenient,” Toowoomba Hospital’s Telehealth co-ordinator Carrie Bourke said.
For 14-year-old Walker, it means he can spend more time in the classroom than in Brisbane waiting rooms.
Something, his mother said, was priceless as Walker got older.
“He can keep his grades up at school because we’re not trying to play catch up at school,” Ms Taylor-Kellock said.
“Otherwise we would have teachers having to email us stuff and it is just a snowball effect. In Brisbane we are not getting work done and I suppose we aren’t the only family either.
“I think it is fantastic and I will be using it until we don’t need it any more.”