LOCAL LIFE
New free virtual health service launched in Western Sydney Local Health District
The Minns Labor Government has expanded a free virtual healthcare service for residents in the Western Sydney Local Health District.
Residents can now access safe and convenient virtual care for non-lifethreatening conditions from the comfort of their own homes.
This service provides care for urgent but non-life-threatening illnesses and injuries, including:
• Coughs, colds, fevers, and flu
• Respiratory symptoms
• Vomiting and diarrhoea
• Minor infections and rashes The service is available daily from 8 am to
10 pm for individuals aged 16 and over. To access the service, patients can call HealthDirect on 1800 022 222, where they will first speak to a registered nurse who will assess their condition. If appropriate, the nurse will refer them to the virtual care service.
Using video conferencing technology, the service connects patients with a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, including doctors and nurses, where clinically suitable.
Reducing Pressure on Emergency Departments
Virtual care is part of a broader initiative to ease the strain on the state’ s busy emergency departments( EDs), which includes:
• A $ 100 million investment over two years to continue urgent care services, offering care outside hospitals for an estimated 114,000 patients.
• $ 70 million over four years to expand ED short-stay units, improving patient flow and reducing wait times by nearly 80,000 hours.
• $ 15.1 million for an Ambulance Matrix, providing real-time hospital data to help paramedics transport patients to emergency departments with greater capacity, reducing wait times.
• $ 31.4 million over four years to expand the Hospital in the Home programme, enabling over 3,500 additional patients each year to receive care at home rather than in a hospital bed.
• $ 53.9 million to improve patient flow and support discharge planning, ensuring early identification of patients suitable for home discharge with appropriate support in place.
Member for Mount Druitt, Edmond Atalla, said:“ Local residents can now access free, safe, and convenient virtual care for non-lifethreatening conditions from the comfort of their own homes.
“ This expanded service will help ease pressure on our busy emergency departments and provide more care options outside the hospital.”
Free RSV immunisation for newborns
Free immunisation against respiratory syncytial virus( RSV) will be available to all newborn babies in New South Wales.
This initiative will ensure that newborns in Mount Druitt are protected from serious illness caused by the virus. It is estimated that each year, around 1,150 babies under six months of age in NSW will avoid hospitalisation due to RSV.
Pregnant women can currently receive a free RSV vaccination, which passes protection to their babies for the first five months of life.
Eligible newborns will receive Nirsevimab before being discharged from hospital. For infants who are not protected by maternal RSV vaccination at birth, the Minns Labor Government is offering free RSV immunisation.
Additionally, the government will provide immunisation for babies at high risk of severe RSV disease, even if their birth mother has been vaccinated.
Children with certain medical conditions up to 24 months of age will also be eligible for free RSV immunisation.
Maternal RSV vaccination is recommended between 28 and 36 weeks of pregnancy and is provided through the National Immunisation Programme.
With the combined protection of free maternal vaccination and free infant immunisation, all newborn babies in NSW can benefit from increased protection against RSV.
RSV is a common cause of respiratory illness, affecting up to 90 per cent of children within their first two years. While anyone can contract the virus, it poses the greatest risk to children under one year of age, who may develop bronchiolitis or pneumonia, often requiring hospitalisation.
Between 2016 and 2023 in NSW, there were over 52,000 hospitalisations related to RSV, with approximately 41 per cent occurring in children under one year.
For more information on how to protect yourself and others from RSV, visit the NSW Health website. https:// www. health. nsw. gov. au / Infectious / factsheets / Pages / respiratory-syncytial-virus. aspx
BLACKTOWN CITY INDEPENDENT theindependentmagazine. com. au ISSUE 49 // APRIL 2025 9