By Renee Wood
Services for Healesville Hospital Action Group (SHHAG) is urgently reaching out to the state’s health minister for Healesville Hospital to be considered in the roll out of urgent care services.
This follows the State Government’s announcement it will be establishing 25 new urgent care services however, Healesville wasn’t included in the initial list.
The Victorian and New South Wales Governments are partnering together for the roll out in a bid to further ease record demand for emergency departments.
The new services will operate for extended hours, equipped to handle mild non-critical conditions such as fractures or burns and will be commissioned in partnership with Primary Health Networks.
Some 10 centres have been named across regional and metro areas, including Box Hill Hospital. A further 10 Victorian locations will also be announced soon.
SHHAG Chairperson Jane Judd said she thinks it’s a good announcement and agrees with the initial list of nominated sites.
“The list reflects the impact of covid on the challenges of staffing the health care system and the growing demand for ED services as access to bulk billing GP’s declines,” Ms Judd said.
There’s hope that Healesville will be included in the next roll out and the group will looking share the region’s need for the service to the health minister.
It’s something the group’s been pushing for over the past decade due to the lack of services in the region.
“Our analysis of the 62 rural urgent care centres show we have a significant population with limited access to urgent care courtesy of the After Hours GP Clinic at the Healesville Hospital,” she said.
It’s believed the government is currently analysing suitable locations for future sites and as part of that work announcements are expected in coming months.
Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said the initiative will assist EDs and fast track non-emergency cases.
“Not only will this initiative free up beds in the ED for those with the most critical needs, but it will also fast track non-emergency patients so they can receive the treatment they need in a more comfortable setting,” Ms Thomas said.
The new “Clinical Services Plan” for Healesville Hospital and Yarra Valley Health 2022-2032 is also currently under development.
A list of services has been submitted by SHHAG to Eastern Health to be considered and an urgent care centre was listed as number one. The community’s encouraged to join opportunities to discuss the plan during future consultations.
