Central Coast Local Health District: Defining a Virtual Care Service Model for delivering high-quality coordinated care to patients in a sustainable manner

The Central Coast has a rapidly growing and increasingly diverse population. By 2031, the region’s population is expected to grow by 15% to over 390,000 people.¹ The demographics of the region are also shifting, with the proportion of people aged 55 and over increasing. As a result, the demand for healthcare services across the region is growing.

In response to this shift in demand, CCLHD sought to explore new and innovative models of care to enable high-quality care to continue to be delivered to citizens in a sustainable manner. Observing the success of virtual care programs such as the Royal Prince Alfred (RPA) Hospital’s Virtual Hospital, CCLHD formed a vision to establish a Virtual Care Hub which would deliver high-quality coordinated care to patients through virtual channels.

How Telstra Health supported CCLHD develop a service model for the Virtual Care Hub

To enable this vision, CCLHD engaged Telstra Health to develop a service model for the Virtual Care Hub. The Virtual Care Service Model would provide clarity on what clinical services would be delivered by the Virtual Care Hub, how the services would be delivered and what changes would be required to clinical and non-clinical roles. 

To design the Virtual Care Service Model, Telstra Health undertook extensive stakeholder engagement with clinical and non-clinical CCLHD staff, as well as representatives from NSW Ambulance and the General Practitioner (GP) and Residential Aged Care providers. This involved facilitating interactive workshops to define the vision for the Virtual Care Hub, to co-design the Virtual Care Service Model and to surface key challenges, risks and mitigations relating to the implementation of the service model.

In summary, the Virtual Care Service Model has provided CCLHD with a strategic top-down view of the Virtual Care Hub, which will help create alignment across bottom-up initiatives and shape the implementation plan for the Virtual Care Hub.

¹. CCLHD Caring for the Coast Strategy 2019-24