A telehealth service called “Hello Doctor”, first introduced in 2019 and then suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been relaunched by the Western Cape Health Department, in partnership with Momentum Metropolitan.
The aim is to ensure public healthcare users don’t have to visit clinics unnecessarily and add to long queues, reports TimesLIVE.
Delft Community Healthcare Centre, where the pilot initiative was launched this week, is one of the overburdened day hospitals in the province.
Instead of going to the clinic for their ailments, low-risk patients can access medical advice and be triaged at the tap of a finger by sending a “call-back” request on their phones and connecting to medics without physically visiting the health facility.
The free Hello Doctor application, described as “unethical” by the medical regulator, the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA), when it first launched, will also be used as a COVID-19 information portal.
The HPCSA, which favoured face-to-face consultation over virtual ones until it was compelled by the arrival of COVID-19 to change its stance, said at the time that Hello Doctor would breach patient confidentiality.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Seeking clarity from HPCSA on telehealth
Doctors see benefits of telehealth — concerned some patients may get left behind
Ensuring equitable access to fast-expanding virtual healthcare
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