In a NSW first, Extended Care Paramedics (ECPs) have joined a multidisciplinary urgent care team in the Tweed region, providing support to residents for urgent but non-life-threatening medical conditions in the comfort of their own homes.
The Tweed Urgent Care Service is currently available five days a week, from 8am - 4pm, through scheduled visits to residential aged care facilities, but will expand to offer care to people of all ages seven days a week in the coming months.
The innovative model is a partnership between Northern NSW Local Health District and NSW Ambulance and will allow dedicated ECPs to be dispatched to patients, in an effort to reduce avoidable presentations to emergency departments.
Highly qualified ECPs are now on the road, in addition to the existing skilled paramedics who provide emergency care to the Tweed community.
The ECPs will partner with a multidisciplinary team of nurse practitioners, registered nurses and allied health professionals to provide treatment in the community for a range of conditions, such as fractures, dislocations and wound suturing.
If you or someone you care about needs health advice, treatment or care and it is not a life-threatening emergency, call Healthdirect on 1800 022 222. A registered nurse will assess your condition and then discuss the best place for your care needs. This may include a telehealth appointment with virtual GP services or escalating your care to other services like NSW Ambulance if required.
The Minns Labor Government is working to improve access to care and reduce wait times, through our emergency department relief package which will invest an additional $100 million to fund urgent care services for a further two years, providing a pathway to care outside of our hospitals for an estimated 114,000 patients once fully implemented.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Regional Health Ryan Park:
"This Urgent Care Service is enabling residents to receive high quality, expert care without leaving their familiar environment, providing a better patient experience and easing pressure on the region's busy emergency departments.
"I am so pleased to see innovative models of care like this one being introduced in our regional communities to support patients to receive more timely care in the appropriate setting."
"The best way to get access to our urgent care services if you're feeling unwell or worried about symptoms is to call healthdirect anytime on 1800 022 222. A registered nurse will assess your condition and connect you with the care you need. It means healthcare, anywhere, in the time it takes to make a phone call."
Quotes attributable to the Labor Spokesperson for the Tweed Emily Suvaal MLC:
"This will make a major difference to the Tweed community who will be able to access care for urgent conditions within the comfort of their home."
"It's fantastic for both the patient and our health workers that members of the community will be able to avoid a trip to a busy ED for a range of conditions like fractures, dislocation or wound treatment."
Quotes attributable to NSW Ambulance Chief Executive Dominic Morgan:
"Extended care paramedics have a broad range of skills to assess and treat patients in the community, providing them with the appropriate specialist care they require.
"This model of care will assist in testing how our ECPs may improve health outcomes for local residents, and also reduce the pressures on our emergency paramedics and hospital emergency departments, by providing patients with urgent but not life-threatening medical conditions the care they need outside of the hospital setting."
