A look back at some of our doctors’ life-saving home visits
As an after-hours service, our home doctors take pride in providing quality care for patients across Queensland and northern New South Wales, all in the comfort of their own home.
In fact, some of our doctors have gone above and beyond for the health and wellbeing of our patients. Here is a look back at some of their extraordinary moments.
Doctor saved Mackay baby’s life
One of our attentive after-hours doctors, Dr Kelvin Khong, noticed a heart murmur in six month old Evelyn Crowley – something two paediatricians had previously missed.
Evelyn’s mother, Erin Crowley said she knew something was wrong and if it wasn’t for House Call Doctor, her daughter might not be here today.
“One evening, I just knew something wasn’t right, and called the after-hours service. When the doctor examined her, he looked at us and said, ‘Are you aware your daughter has a heart murmur?’,” Ms Crowley said.
Two months following the visit from House Call Doctor, Evelyn underwent surgery in Melbourne to correct the life-threatening condition and is now a healthy two year old.
You can read more here.
Home doctor saves child hours out from his birthday
Toby Armstrong was hours out from his tenth birthday when he started to vomit blood, after days of vomiting.
Toby’s parents, Alicia and Gary, initially thought he had gastro but as his condition worsened, they realised he needed medical attention.
Following a visit from our very own Dr Qaisar Bashir, Mr and Mrs Armstrong were advised to go to a hospital immediately.
After further examination and blood tests in hospital, Toby was diagnosed with first-stage Chronic Myeloid Leukemia.
“House Call Doctor saved my child’s life,” Mrs Armstrong said.
“Without Dr Bashir’s advice, the leukaemia might have gone unnoticed for weeks or even months. I cannot thank Dr Bashir enough for his care,” Mrs Armstrong said.
You can read more here.
Doctor finds hidden killer in routine home visit
Dr Tridiv Madhok was visiting 67 year old Bundaberg woman Christine Saunders when he spotted a cancerous mole on her back which later lead to surgery.
“My call was for a bronchial condition and as the doctor was checking my back with his stethoscope he suggested that I see my GP ‘as soon as possible’ regarding a mole on my shoulder,” Ms Saunders said.
Following Dr Madhok’s advice, Ms Saunders had the mole removed by her regular GP and later found out it was a malignant skin cancer.
“When my doctor told me it was indeed skin cancer, he advised me to ‘buy that House Call Doctor a beer’,” Ms Saunders said.
“My heartfelt thanks goes to the House Call Doctor who came to see me.”
You can read more here.
Mum saved during visit to her son
During a visit to her son in 2017, Rachel Carmody, who was recovering from a broken foot, mentioned to the home doctor she was also feeling run down with flu-like symptoms.
Thanks to Dr Padmaparsad’s quick thinking, he pieced together Ms Carmody’s symptoms and advised she needed to visit the emergency department immediately as she may have had a blood clot.
Ms Carmody said she owes her life to House Call Doctor after a life threatening blood clot was found in her chest.
“Thank you so much for all your support, I wouldn’t have gone to the emergency department for flu symptoms if he [Dr Padmaparsad] hadn’t been here,” Ms Carmody said.
You can find out more here.
Home doctor chaperone goes the extra mile for sick boy
Not only have our doctors given quality care to patients, so too have our chaperones.
In 2017, House Call Doctor chaperone Brendan Hardy regularly drove three year old Myles Rauchle and his family from Toowoomba to the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in Brisbane for check-ups and treatment.
Myles has a brain abscess and as he needed regular hospital appointments, Mr Hardy donated his time to take the family to Brisbane, while House Call Doctor supplied the car and fuel.
“I donate my time but House Call Doctor is covering the cost of the trip. Our job is to help people but it is important for us to be able to help this community too,” Mr Hardy said.
Before living in Toowoomba, the Rauchle family were situated in Roma where House Call Doctor and Apex Toowoomba worked together to help move Myles, mum Rebecca and his three siblings so they could cut down on travel time.
Mr Hardy said it previously took the family a three-day trip to get to the hospital.
You can read more here.
