Urgent Care

Alexandra District Health has a 3 cubicle Urgent Care Centre.

WHAT IS AN URGENT CARE ?

Urgent care centres provide first line emergency care and unscheduled care for urgent minor injuries and illnesses.

WHAT TO EXPECT?

Our Urgent Care Centre is staffed by experienced Registered Nurses. After hours we use Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED) telehealth model. In this model the patient is ‘seen virtually’ by a Doctor or experienced Nurse.

WHY MUST I WAIT?

Emergencies aren’t predictable. People can arrive at the Urgent Care Centre at any time and in varying numbers.

To ensure seriously ill and injured people are cared for quickly, there is an order of priority in the Urgent Care Centre which determines who receives assistance first.

ON ARRIVAL

The first person you see when you come to the Urgent Care Centre is a Nurse who will determine how urgently you need medical attention. This is called triage. This is done by assessing your presenting complaint, your current vital signs, and past medical history. You will then be assigned a triage category from 1 to 5.

WHAT IS TRIAGE?

Triage categories provide a safety mechanism to make sure that people who are most in need of help are seen as quickly as possible. This means that waiting times can be longer for people who don’t have time critical conditions. Waiting times will vary depending on how busy the Urgent Care Centre is at the time. We will continue to monitor your condition and observations whilst you wait. Please alert the n u r s e if you start to feel worse.

These are the triage categories the Nurse will assign:

Category 1: Resuscitation case requiring immediate treatment.

Category 2: Imminently life- threatening emergency case. Requires time critical assessment and treatment.

Category 3: Potentially life- threatening

Category 4: Semi-urgent case.

Category 5: Non-urgent patient condition

ONGOING CARE

If your injury or illness requires ongoing care in hospital, you may be admitted to Alexandra District Health or arrangements will be made for you to be transferred to an appropriate metropolitan or regional health service. If you are transferred from Urgent Care via ambulance, you will be billed by Ambulance Victoria if you do not have a membership. Some private insurance covers ambulance transfers but not all.

MEDICARE AND BILLING

If possible please have your Medicare card or number or private health fund details ready to provide to our triage nurse.