The McGowan Government in partnership with the WA Country Health Service (WACHS) has launched a specialist emergency telehealth service providing 24/7 support to nurses, midwives, general practitioners and obstetrics teams across regional Western Australia.
The Midwifery and Obstetrics Emergency Telehealth Service (MOETS) delivers specialist obstetric and maternity advice and support via videoconferencing through a central ‘virtual’ clinical hub.
By supporting country doctors, nurses and midwives, MOETS is helping expectant mothers and their families access care closer to home.
Staffed by senior midwives and supported by on-call obstetricians, the MOETS team provides:
- specialist midwifery and obstetric support for unplanned maternity and gynaecological presentations at non-birthing sites;
- monitoring of babies’ wellbeing through the introduction of new technologies that allow midwives to remotely monitor cardiotocographs (CTGs) at birthing sites;
- assistance to country clinicians organising maternity and neonatal transfers; and
- collegiate advice and second opinions to give country clinicians and country families even more reassurance.
MOETS is the latest service to join the WACHS Command Centre, which delivers a dedicated specialist clinical workforce to the bedside of patients in country hospitals and health services in real-time.
As stated by Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson:
“This new telehealth service uses videoconferencing and state-of-the-art technology to provide real-time specialist advice and support to frontline clinicians.
“Telehealth technology gives regional communities access to specialist emergency care in regional and remote health centres located across WA.
“This expansion of telehealth is a natural progression of our journey to provide quality health care in our vast State.
“This service will assist country clinicians to improve outcomes for patients and keep care closer to home.”
