Ten-month-old Hattie Hughes had been sick for a few days with cold and flu symptoms when her mother became worried.
"Her breathing had deteriorated. It just sounded a bit raspy and wasn't sounding so good," Sally Hughes said.
Ms Hughes, 36, took her daughter to the local emergency department (ED) in Goondiwindi in southern Queensland where she was told they would have to wait for several hours to see a doctor.
"The ED … was chock-a-block full of people," she said.
"I was like, 'Oh, this is not going to be fun'."
Ms Hughes said nurses at the hospital suggested she return home and phone Cub Care, a private after-hours paediatric telehealth and virtual clinical service currently funded by the state government to provide its service for free.
"I think they called me within 10 minutes," she said.
"It was really nice because we were sitting at home, in our bed, and I could give [Hattie] a feed and she was comfortable.
"We weren't sitting in a waiting room full of people with germs. It was perfect."
A private alternative
The Darling Downs Health service, which oversees an area of 90,000 square kilometres, last year entered into a trial to allow parents living in the region to access Cub Care's private service for free.
It would not reveal how much the agreement was costing the government.
Cub Care said it wanted to offer another option for families who needed emergency care, allowing them to stay at home rather than travelling to hospital.
Co-founder Chris Horwill said the service was established after one of the partners, paediatric emergency physician Dave Wood, noticed families were waiting in EDs unnecessarily.
"Long story short, he basically said, 'You know that about 85 per cent of kids in my ED don't need to be there'," he said.
In fact, the percentage was even higher.
Mr Horwill said 95 per cent of the 800-plus children who had been referred to the service since the trial began in October 2021 had been diverted from the public ED.
The free, mainly after-hours service has saved users turning to private consultation up to $179 a consult on weeknights and $219 on weekend evenings.
Agreement up for review
Darling Downs Health nursing director Jeff Reeves said the trial had been a "win-win" for everyone.
"If someone who doesn't need to come to the emergency department, doesn't come to the emergency department, that absolutely does help us," Mr Reeves said.
"It allows us to focus our attention more strongly on those people who require urgent emergency treatment."
The agreement is expected to be reviewed next month and Mr Reeves said feedback from patients so far had been positive.
Mr Horwill said Cub Care was in discussions with other health services across Queensland and nationally to expand the service.
"It's sort of a hidden resource … the other thing is … this is sort of a new option that hasn't really been available."
Telehealth more acceptable
Mr Horwill said telehealth had initially been seen as novel, but the COVID-19 pandemic had prompted more health services to adopt the model.
"You are starting to see people sort of venture into these areas a bit more, just somewhat out of necessity in many ways," he said.
"There's just not enough bricks and mortar to basically handle all the demand."
Ms Hughes said she was lucky to access the free service for her daughter.
"We could just stay home and contact someone who was very knowledgeable and just put my mind at ease," she said.
"We are so lucky to get it for free. I think we [will] try and tell everyone about it."
