Today we have taken the difficult but important decision to temporarily pause our Hopetoun Urgent Care service from 5pm today.
To ensure patient safety, we have worked with Ambulance Victoria and the Department of Health to put in place alternative services, while ensuring the community is able to access urgent care and to reduce inconvenience for the community.
This decision is necessary to adhere to our commitment to high quality and safe care that is within the capability of our health service. It considers our staff mix and the health staff shortages across Victoria.
RNH put the following options in place for the Hopetoun community:
- If someone is seriously injured or needs urgent medical help, people should always dial 000 for an ambulance as normal.
- For non-life-threatening emergencies, people are encouraged to contact the state-wide Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED), which is available 24 hours per day, seven days a week. This provides patients access via video call to highly skilled emergency medical teams such as physicians, paediatricians, nurse practitioners and other specialists from the comfort of their home.
- RNH is offering VVED at the Hopetoun facility for people who are unable to access the service remotely. A room has been set up with access to VVED.
- Ambulance Victoria is also supporting people as they access the virtual system.
For more information on VVED and to establish a video conference with the medical practitioner, people can visit https://www.vved.org.au/.