Northern Health is expanding their Victorian Virtual Specialist Consult (VVSC) to remove barriers to accessing healthcare.
Direct consultations are now being provided across the state, reducing long wait and travel times for all residents. Each consultation runs for 20 minutes at no cost to patients.
Speciality services offered through the VVSC have also expanded to include dermatology, gastroenterology, endocrinology, neurology, wound care, allied health, psychiatry, paediatrics, geriatrics, paediatric allergy, asthma, and continence.
Patients waiting for long periods on specialist waiting lists can also ask their GP to consider an appointment through the service as an alternative.
Director of Victorian Virtual Specialist Consults Dr Joanna Lawrence said that the clinicians involved in the service were what made it so successful.
“The success of our service lies mainly in the hands of passionate clinicians who recognise state-wide gaps in service and design and implement innovative models of care to plug these gaps,” she said.
“By facilitating effective communication between primary care and medical specialists, we are seeing both improved care and more timely treatment for some of our most vulnerable patients.
“Through VVSC, the hope is every Victorian can get the access to the specialist healthcare they need, when and where they need it most.”
Project Manager Cassandra Bramston said that the expansion of the service would benefit all.
“Medical specialists are attracted by the chance to serve not just patients in the northern catchment, but those across the state,” she said.
“We offer a distinct opportunity to support primary care physicians in managing complex patients within their communities, delivering excellent outcomes for patients.”
To book an appointment, visit www.vvsc.org.au.
