Work is set to start this coming month on the $8.31-million Queensland Ambulance Service’s Clinical Hub refurbishment, to accommodate 30 additional staff members.
Queensland's Health and Ambulance Minister Tim Nicholls visited the Kedron Park Emergency Complex to tour the Clinical Hub and announce it's start in mid February.
Since the Clinical Hub’s inception in 2019 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the then team of three has grown and diversified to include paramedics, doctors, registered nurses, physios, occupational therapists (OTs) and social workers providing 24-hour care to our patients, and support to our frontline staff.
The Clinical Hub works to mitigate patient safety risks and address service demand through statewide secondary triage, early clinical advice, alternate pathway referral and health navigation. This helps QAS to provide the most appropriate and timely health care to our patients.
QAS’s Statewide Planning and Coordination Assistant Commissioner Alex Thompson said the new facility will boost the Clinical Hub’s telehealth capacity providing Queenslanders with greater access to healthcare in their time of need.
“The QAS Clinical Hub undertakes up to 1,700 daily patient interactions across Queensland, ensuring patient safety and where appropriate, identifying alternative healthcare pathways for patients,” Alex said.
“Not everyone calling Triple Zero (000) needs an ambulance response, so by expanding this service, our staff can connect more patients with the most appropriate care for their needs.
“It also enables specialist programs such as the Mental Health or Falls Co-Responder units to be dispatched, to provide the right healthcare for patients.”
The teams will monitor non-urgent patients through telehealth services until QAS responders arrive and can escalate the response if their condition worsens.
The QAS won the 2024 Council of Ambulance Authorities (CAA) Awards for Excellence - Excellence in Clinical Practice category for the implementation of the Clinical Hub.
Stay tuned for more information about this exciting project.
