Jerry Yu, Michelle Shiach-Wise, Dr Pearl Wang, Dr Thelma De Lisser Howarth, Mark Zacka at the Human Experience Week presentation
NSLHD’s Virtual Care revolution Northern Sydney Local Health District Virtual Care and Hospital in the Home Service has helped hundreds of patients avoid emergency departments by providing expert clinical assessment and medical care closer to home. The ED Alternative Referral
“The ED Alternative Pathway saves a person a trip to the emergency department, and they can receive care straight away,” he said. “Patients who have used the pathway like it because they receive the care in the comfort of their own homes, and this frees up our clinicians in ED to treat the really urgent and critical patients.” Patients who dial Triple Zero, who are not suffering an emergency episode, meet strict criteria and live within the NSLHD catchment area, can be referred to the NSLHD Virtual Care Service (virtual hospital) by NSW Ambulance. They are triaged by paramedics either over the phone or at the scene. If their condition is determined to be
non-life-threatening, they are directly connected to a team of doctors and nurses. Jerry said depending on the patient’s condition, a paramedic may have already started treatment, such as providing IV antibiotics, prior to a nurse attending who will go directly to the person’s home. “Our aim is to build a single front door to acute and urgent care services for patients who can call through and depending on the acuity of their condition, can receive care virtually, or be referred to one of clinics, and not need to go through emergency departments,” Jerry said.
Pathway established at NSLHD in 2022 has proven successful in improving patients’ experience and easing the burden on busy
emergency departments. Since April 2022, over 300
patients have avoided a trip to an emergency department and received treatment at their home, or were treated by a team of medical and nursing staff through video consultations from the virtual hospital. NSLHD Virtual Care and Hospital in the Home Service General Manager Chenyao (Jerry) Yu said the ED Alternative Referral Pathway was a great example of how the health system put patients first and could develop new ways to care for people.
37 NSLHD 2024 Year in Review
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