The Northern Hospital has two new Virtual Emergency Department pods, an innovative way to treat patients presented to their Emergency Department (ED) with a non-life-threatening issue.
The pods are in addition to the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED) telephone service – an accessible way for Victorians with a non-life-threatening emergency to engage with a relevant health professional remotely.
Hannah Downie, Nurse Unit Manager (NUM) at the Northern Health Emergency Department, said their ED triage can arrange a full video consultation and assessment with their team of emergency professionals, including physicians, paediatricians, general practitioners, medical registrars, nurses and nurse practitioners, and they have working towards patients being seen in the pods within 20 minutes.
“Most patients that would be redirected to the pods would be classified as Category 4 or Category 5 patients. The current wait times for these patients to see a clinician and wait in the waiting room is between 90 to 120 minutes on average, although this could be longer, depending on the time of day,” she said.
The pods are soundproof and inviting for qualified staff to use, and there are no costs involved in accessing the care offered in the pods. Patients are assessed by VVED clinicians and advised of the appropriate next steps of care.
“Currently, there are between four and five patients using the pods daily. This number can vary, as the team is continuing to improve the process of triaging patients to the pods, but we hope this number will increase to at least 15 uses per day,” Ms Downie said.
There are plans for the pods to be introduced into regional areas in the coming months, and all staff working for the VVED are fully qualified to deliver emergency care.
