More children and their families will have access to medical care at home through a new virtual care service enabling patients to be treated from their own bed – and stay out of hospital.
The WCH@Home virtual care service allows children with mild to moderate illness to be assessed and cared for at home via an online platform, run by a dedicated team of doctors, nurses and GP specialists.
The service is aimed at children with respiratory symptoms, including RSV, and can be accessed through a hospital referral or virtual assessment.
The WCH@Home team will work seven days a week to keep our youngest patients, from 12 weeks to 17 years, out of hospital while freeing up beds for kids with more acute needs.
The service’s virtual ward will allow children to receive expert care at home – regardless of where they live across the state – in a familiar environment and avoid trips to the emergency department.
A care plan will be developed with families to include regular observations and virtual assessment, with nurses also available to conduct at-home visits if additional treatment or monitoring is required.
WCH@Home is modelled off the successful COVIDKids virtual service, which has helped more than 2,300 children in isolation since it was launched late last year.
Parents can continue to access COVIDKids during this current wave through wch.sa.gov.au/covid-19/covidkids
The new WCH@Home service also has links to the Child and Adolescent Virtual Urgent Care Service, another online platform that connects parents with the WCH’s emergency team to access urgent care at home.
This service has seen nearly 8,300 patients with more than 90 per cent of children receiving care outside of an ED setting.
More information can be found here wch.sa.gov.au/patients-visitors/emergencies/virtual-urgent-care
