Ambulance Victoria has launched the first phase of their ‘Palliative Care Special Patient (SPPT) Alert Pilot’ though their Palliative Care Connect Project. This initiative aims to significantly enhance Ambulance Victoria’s approach to caring for consumers with palliative needs who are at increased risk of a 000 call.
The pilot will place an alert on palliative consumers who are at increased risk of a call to 000 Victoria. This important alert will identify to Ambulance Victoria (AV) staff that the person requiring the ambulance has palliative needs and may require a palliative instead of an emergency approach. It will also equip AV staff with immediate access to the contact details for a consumers’ s specialist palliative care provider. With palliative care contact details to hand, AV paramedics and nurses will contact specialist palliative care teams en route, on arrival or at secondary triage to help inform their care and approach. Through consultation, collaboration, and coordination with specialist palliative care services, it will further enable paramedics and community palliative care services to promote continuity of care and optimal medical management in line with a person’s wishes and preferences.
Ambulance Victoria is seeking community palliative care services to partner with them for this pilot. Palliative partners will be responsible for identifying those consumers at increased risk of a 000 call and completing two short one page consent and SPPT request forms.
If your services is interested in joining this pilot or hearing more please contact Olivia Hedges at pallcare@ambulance.vic.gov.au.
The AV Palliative Care SPPT Pilot Team is also hosting weekly information and feedback sessions, every Friday from 11:00am -11:30am until 16 June. Please register your interest to join one of these sessions through the links below:
Integral to identifying the benefits, barriers and improvement opportunities for this pilot will be feedback from the palliative care sector. Ambulance Victoria invites feedback about this pilot through a short MS survey that can be accessed by following this link or the embedded QR code below.
For further information please contact:
Olivia Hedges,
Palliative Care Connect Lead
Ambulance Victoria
Mobile: 0490 523 434
Email: Olivia.hedges@ambulance.vic.gov.au