Mr. Liam Woods:

One of the things we did over the winter was support increased investment in dieticians. We actually found that it was very beneficial in the community, as the Senator is suggesting, and in a primary care setting outside hospital. It is using hospital resources and we will be seeing more of it.

We have just started pilot work on blue light or National Ambulance Service calls where falls are involved. On appropriate triage, we are sending occupational therapists and potentially physiotherapists to people’s home from hospital, with a view to determining whether we can address issues there. The data are very new. It has happened on 40 occasions and 28 patients did not need to go to hospital. That kind of work, to which the Senator is pointing, is exactly where we need to go and we need to do more of it.