Two Bendigo-based entrepreneurs will take on a national giant next week when they launch their own after-hours doctor service.
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Tyson Cowan, 27, and 23-year-old Renae Colls relocated from Queensland last December to kickstart Doctor on the Way.
The company employs seven doctors who visit patients’ homes at times when clinics are closed.
They will launch their venture just six months after the National Home Doctors Service arrived in Bendigo.
But the budding business duo remain unfazed by their large-scale competitor, saying they have a secret weapon: they are a locally owned and operated.
“Living here, and talking to locals, we are a part of the community,” Ms Colls said.
“We’re providing local doctors with jobs, we’re providing administration, a call centre and we’re giving work to the pharmacy.”
Unlike its national rival, the new company will service Castlemaine, and also provide assistants to drive doctors from one booking to the next.
The pair said doctors’ assistants would allow their medics to remain focused and unstressed between appointments.
After-hours medical services were necessary to alleviate pressure on hospital emergency departments, Mr Cowan and Ms Colls said.
Data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows more than 750,000 emergency room visits in 2014-2015 were not considered urgent.
About half of all ER patients sought care outside GP clinic opening hours.
The Doctor on the Way team expected their service would be frequented by itinerant workers who do not have a GP in Bendigo, and families for whom it is inconvenient to leave home late at night.
“We’ve seen people call up and they’re single parents, or families with three kids, and it’s not nice to go out at 11 o’clock at night with a newborn,” Ms Colls said.
“Especially if one kid is sick and you have to wake up the other two – on a school night,” Mr Cowan added.
National Home Doctors Service Bendigo general manager Tim Watts said his company was unperturbed by the new player in after-hours care, explaining it was a sign of community demand.
“GPs do a great job, but they’re not open every holiday, in the evening or all the time on the weekend, so there’s a need there,” he said.
“People get sick at all times of day or night.”
Doctor on the Way starts operation on Wednesday, June 1, with doctors on call between 6pm and 8am on weekdays, and from 12 noon Saturdays until Monday morning.
Visit www.dotw.healthcare for more information.