Dorothy Westerman
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 24/05) - A growing number of northerners are dialing NWT Tele-Care line for health care information, says Damien Healy, communications manager of Health and Social Services in Yellowknife.

"We get calls which vary from coughs and colds, vomiting, trauma and pregnancy-related," Healy said.

Yellowknife alone accounted for 3,157 of the more than 4,019 calls received last year.

"We've had a gradual increase each month," said Jo-Anne Hubert, senior nursing consultant with Health and Social Services in Yellowknife.

Healy said the $700,000-a-year program contracted to Clinidata is not meant as a replacement for a visit to a doctor, but as an alternative.

She said 75 per cent of those who called the line had symptoms, while the other 25 per cent were just looking for information.

Hubert said persons using the telephone service are more likely to seek the proper health care instead of heading straight to the emergency room or clinic.

"If we can get more people to call, hopefully the stress on the physicians will be reduced a little," Hubert said.

Hubert said when a patient calls the system for information, they are also able to provide feedback about medical services.

"Last month, 17 people were asked how they were doing. There were 15 or 16 callers who said they found the information to be helpful," Hubert said.

"It was all very positive and they were satisfied with the service. People are finding they are getting the information they are looking for."

Most calls have been in English, although

translation is available for most aboriginal languages, Hubert said.

Another feature of the service is that audio tapes are offered as an alternate to talking with a nurse, Hubert said.

"But they will still get a live voice to tell them this to ensure callers are not getting an inaccurate diagnoses," she said.

Hubert said they hope to receive 16,000 calls a year as the system becomes better known across the territories.

"Obviously you can't replace the face to face meeting that you have with the doctor, but what this system is for is for the communities where the doctors are overloaded," he said.