A Remote Medical Consultation Program
North Coast Area Health Service
Abstract
"One of the most critical issues facing rural communities is attracting and keeping health professionals working in NSW."
- NSW Rural Health Plan
The Remote Medical Consultation Program (RMCP) was established to address GP workload issues and fatigue in a rural district hospital. A new model of care was established for patients attending the emergency department of Wauchope District Memorial Hospital (WDMH) at night. It involves networking with the emergency department of a nearby rural base hospital.
Night time call-out of GPs reduced from an average of 2.5 per night to a total of only 15 call-outs in the 3½ month evaluation period whilst maintaining appropriate access and quality of emergency medicine services. Added benefits have been achieved from the routine networking of the emergency medicine services and building a culture where all healthcare professions support new care delivery models to meet the future changing needs of our community.
This project was entered in the 2007 NSW Health Awards, Building a Sustainable Health Workforce category.
The full entry document can be downloaded in the formats listed below:
A Remote Medical Consultation Program (Word - 84 KB)
A Remote Medical Consultation Program (pdf - 53 KB)
Download the Presentation ( pdf- 324 KB) from the 2007 NSW Health Expo.
