Ready to help

The House Call Doctor after-hours service provides quality healthcare to patients in their homes across Queensland and northern New South Wales.

Our doctors are on hand all year round to treat non-life-threatening illnesses and help to relieve pressure on emergency departments. It’s during medical outbreaks that the impact of after-hours doctor services, like House Call Doctor, can truly be seen.

Below are some of the worst outbreaks in recent years which our doctors have responded to.

Viral outbreak on the Sunshine Coast

An increase of new doctors helped alleviate the impact of a viral infection that was sweeping across the Sunshine Coast in July 2017.

At the time, House Call Doctor’s medical director Jesus Lopez blamed the pandemic flu season for the widespread condition.

“This year, influenza-like illnesses have presented later and we are seeing prolonged symptoms,” Dr Lopez said of the 2017 winter season.

“We’re also finding a greater number of cases have been complicated by lower respiratory infections.”

House Call Doctor expanded its services to 30 new Sunshine Coast towns and suburbs to ensure patients could receive medical help after-hours during the outbreak and after.

You can read more here.

Gastro outbreak throughout the Fraser Coast

Dozens of people across the Fraser Coast were infected by a violent stomach bug in August 2016.

The outbreak caused an overflow of patients that put huge strains on both hospitals and home doctors.

Dr Ryan Harvey from House Call Doctor said this particularly aggressive bug caused mayhem across the State, leading to many people falling sick.

He said the strain of gastroenteritis appeared to be more infectious than those of previous years.

“It is worse than what we have seen and causing worse illness,” Dr Harvey said at the time.

“A lot of people who might otherwise have had an upset stomach are experiencing severe gastro.”

He said that there were reports of a 15 per cent increase in the number of patients suffering from gastro that were admitted to hospitals.

Read the whole story here.

Hervey Bay norovirus outbreak

In August 2017, a Hervey Bay aged care centre was in lockdown for a weekend, due to an outbreak of norovirus.

Around 20 staff and 30 residents were infected with the contagious disease, but thankfully no one was hospitalised during the outbreak.

Dr Thanusan Sivapalan from House Call Doctor said particular age groups were more vulnerable to the virus.

“We find it more common in the elderly and that’s why we see it more so in nursing homes, but also in younger children as well,” Dr Sivapalan said.

You can watch the story here.

Worst Brisbane influenza outbreak on record

The flu season of 2017 proved to be the worst on record and staff numbers across Queensland hospitals were increased, as well as after-hours doctors to help meet the demand.

The Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital experienced one of its busiest ever fortnights in August 2017, with 300 cases of flu treated in one weekend alone.

Calls for after-hours services like House Call Doctor also saw an unprecedent spike.

Here’s the rest of the story.

Have you used our doctors during an outbreak?