The Minns Labor Government will open a new free, virtual care service for adults in Sydney next month transforming the way health care is delivered in NSW, and saving 85,000 people from an unnecessary wait in an emergency department every year.
VirtualAdult will provide virtual urgent care to tens of thousands of people across NSW for illnesses or injuries such as:
- coughs, colds, fevers or flu;
- respiratory symptoms;
- vomiting and diarrhoea;
- minor infections; and
- rashes.
People can access this service by phoning HealthDirect on 1800 022 222 - where they will speak to a registered nurse who can assess their condition - and if appropriate, be referred to VirtualADULTS.
VirtualADULTS will use video conferencing technology to connect patients with a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, including doctors and nurses, where clinically appropriate. The clinician will assess the patient and give expert advice.
It will initially be available from 8am-4.30pm Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) for people aged 16 years and over. From February 2025, the service will be extended to be available from 8am to 10pm Monday to Sunday.
VirtualADULTS will operate out of two central hubs across metropolitan and regional NSW. Sydney will launch in December with the regional hub commencing early next year. The two hubs will service local patients, before their reach is expanded statewide at the end of 2025.
The launch of VirtualADULTS follows the successful statewide expansion of the NSW virtualKIDS Urgent Care Service in December 2023.
Since the expansion, more than 10,000 children across NSW have received more timely, convenient care through the virtualKIDS service, and many thousands of these families have avoided a trip to the ED.
The launch of the VirtualAdult service is in addition to the two other virtual care services for mental health and specialist services supported by a total investment of $171.4 million to help 180,000 avoid a trip to the ED.
The introduction of more virtual care services forms part of a broader range of measures to relieve pressure on the state's busy EDs, including:
- $100 million to back in our urgent care services to become a mainstay and key instrument of the health system in providing a pathway to care outside of our hospitals for an estimated 114,000 patients;
- $70 million to expand emergency department short stay units to improve patient flow to reduce ED wait times by nearly 80,000 hours;
- $15.1 million for an Ambulance Matrix that provides real time hospital data to enable paramedics to transport patients to emergency departments with greater capacity and reducing wait times;
- $31.4 million to increase Hospital in the Home across the state allowing over 3,500 additional patients each year to be cared for in their home rather than a hospital bed; and
- $53.9 million to improve patient flow and support discharge planning by identified patients early on that are suitable to be discharged home with the appropriate supports in place.
This ED relief package builds on our efforts to:
- create more pathways to care outside our busy hospitals via HealthDirect and urgent care services;
- reduce overdue surgeries by safely increasing short stay surgeries;
- empower pharmacies to prescribe low complex medications, relieving pressure on our GPs; and
- establish the Emergency Department and Surgical Care taskforces.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Health Ryan Park:
"We are working to relieve pressure on our busy emergency departments by creating more alternative pathways to care outside the hospital.
"Virtual care has made tremendous progress, accelerated in part by the pandemic, and it is becoming an increasingly embraced model of care, allowing people to be treated from the comfort of home.
"Virtual care is safe, effective and convenient, and I am so pleased we are making it available for adults for urgent care."
