New phone triage system

You may have noticed some changes to the phone triage system for Perth Children’s Hospital’s diabetes clinic recently.

Clinical Nurse Consultant Liz Broad said the system now operated on a priority basis (see below).

“After a review, it became clear that we were spending a lot of time doing insulin adjustments for patients over the triage line rather than dealing with those immediate, urgent enquiries such as sick-day management,” Ms Broad said.

“As a result, we have implemented a true triage system based on priority.

“The more information parents can give about the urgency or issue they are calling about, the easier it is for the triage person to redirect their call.”

Ms Broad said consistency and continuity of care were key to the new triage system.

“We’ve recognised how important it is for continuity to ensure that patients know who their team is, feel known by their team, get consistent information and that the person who has actually made the adjustment to treatment is the person who follows up to see whether it’s been successful or if further change is required,” she said.

“It’s all about equipping and upskilling families to empower them to do more with their own child’s care, recognising that parents become the specialists in their child’s care.”

To assess how well your clinic team is caring for your child with type 1 diabetes, we will be sending out a brief survey via email in the coming weeks. This will be an opportunity for you to provide anonymous feedback on your experience, to let us know what we’re doing well and to provide suggestions for what we could do better. Please look out for the survey and take the opportunity to have your say.

Triage system

Calls to the triage line are prioritised according to:

• Priority 1: Issues that are time sensitive and need to be dealt with urgently. For example, sick day management. Will be dealt with by the triage educator.
• Priority 2: Issues that can be dealt with in two to three days. For example, pump reviews or hypo concerns. The issue will be sent to your clinic team unless they are not available to deal with it in the timeframe. The triage educator will respond in this instance.
• Priority 3: Issues that are not time sensitive and are best addressed by the clinic team at a time that suits both family and educator. The focus is on self-management education and continuity of care.

Perth Children’s Hospital Diabetes Clinic Triage line: 6456 1111 (option 2)