Millicent Spencer
With the holiday season fast approaching hospitals are preparing for a busy period.
Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED) director Dr Loren Sher said she encourages people to visit the VVED if they need medical attention over the holiday period.
“As we go into Christmas and the New Year we know patients will have issues accessing GPs so please contact us in the ED,” she said.
“We do everything through video health so we can see what the problem is [and] in many instances the doctors can sort you out.”
Dr Sher said one of the major benefits of the VVED is the reduced waiting time.
“It takes approximately 15-20 minutes to see an emergency nurse, then 15-20 minutes to see a doctor [so] the whole consultation can be wrapped up in 45-60 minutes,” she said.
“At the moment patients are waiting several hours to get seen [in person].”
The VVED is the first of its kind in Australia and started two years ago as a small project at Northern Health. ‘
Dr Sher said it started to provide an alternative for patients who were scared to come into the ED because of COVID,
“We have now been funded to be a state project and have completed a phased roll out across metropolitan Melbourne and the regions,” she said.
Since its inception in October 2021 the VVED has seen more than 70,000 patients.
It is estimated that 75 per cent of patients who access the VVED are diverted from attending a physical ED, consequently relieving the pressure on EDs across the state by reducing the number of people physically presenting.
About 20 Northern Health staff members run the VVED across the whole program each day.
Details: www.vved.org.au/
