More than 200 people a week are being diverted away from busy emergency departments by a new health service hurriedly put together during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Faced with increasing triple-zero calls in NSW during the late 2021 lockdowns, the state ambulance service stood up a small virtual care team to ease paramedics' workload 16 hours a day.
The Virtual Clinical Care Centre now runs around the clock, getting in contact with about one in 14 triple-zero callers.
It triaged or provided to more than 46,000 people who didn’t require urgent care in 2022 by offering secondary health services available within the community, Health Minister Ryan Park said.
"The Virtual Clinical Care Centre saved more than 12,000 patients from attending the emergency department last year, reducing demand on the hospital system," he said on Thursday.
“During the devastating 2022 floods where some people requiring medical attention were isolated by flood waters, VCCC clinicians were able to provide ongoing clinical care to these patients virtually while they were waiting to be rescued."
Calls to triple zero for an ambulance have risen sharply across the country in recent years.
Queensland is now taking 21,600 calls a week, up from 17,500 three years earlier, while increases in calls for help in Victoria and Western Australia have led to widespread ambulance ramping.
In NSW, a 40 per cent leap in ambulance calls had underlined the need for the VCCC.
Following its success in moving very low-acuity cases to more appropriate care pathways, the service is expanding again.
NSW Ambulance Commissioner Dominic Morgan planned to have 100 staff working in the centre within three years.
“As part of the VCCC expansion, NSW Ambulance is seeking experienced registered nurse and/or registered paramedic triage clinicians, clinical nurse consultants and specialist physicians to join the fast-growing multidisciplinary team," he said on Thursday.
