Health Careers for a Healthy Future

Victoria leads the way in world-first trauma trial In a world-first medical trial, doctors and nurses will be guided by prompts on a ‘superscreen’ to help improve outcomes for trauma patients. The $1.6 million project at The Alfred hospital is a 33-month pilot program using Victorian custom-designed software to guide medical staff during the all-important reception and resuscitation period. Once a trauma patient has been admitted, the large 40-inch LCD screen on the wall of the trauma bay will prompt medical staff on the next step of care needed to stabilise the patient. It will also display patient information such as time of arrival, type of injury and vital signs.

The system does not replace the expertise of emergency doctors and nurses, but experts believe there are life-saving benefits in giving doctors added support in what are invariably complex and time-critical situations. In addition, the system offers a specialist the ability to step into a busy trauma bay and immediately obtain a snapshot of the patient’s situation.

The Trauma Reception and Resuscitation Project is just another example of Victorian public hospitals offering the absolute best in emergency and trauma care, treatment and research. The trial could set a new benchmark for the treatment of trauma patients around the world.

Victoria is investing in health professionals Recruitment and retention of skilled health professionals is a cornerstone to the delivery of high quality health services in Victoria. The number of doctors employed in Victorian public hospitals has grown by 38 per cent over the eight years to June 2006. In 2005-06 alone, the doctor workforce grew by 211. The Victorian Government is spending an additional $6.5 million over four years to increase the state’s medical intern training capacity. This is providing an additional 40 interns in 2007, increasing to an additional 75 by 2010.

• Continuing education and training of doctors in Victorian public hospitals is supported by medical education officers (MEOs) and medical clinical educators (MCEs). The Postgraduate Medical Council of Victoria (PMCV) also supports the education, training and career development of hospital medical officers in their first two postgraduate years and those in later years not in vocational training programs.
  
  
• The Victorian Government has developed a Training Consortia Model that links inner metropolitan teaching hospitals with outer metropolitan and rural teaching hospitals. The model is currently being used for basic physician trainees and has resulted in a 40 per cent increase in the number of rural physician training opportunities. There are plans to extend the training consortia model to other groups of medical practitioners with effect from 2009.
  
  
• The Victorian Government is also providing $12.6 million over four years for additional medical specialist training positions, which is providing up to 20 new posts this year, growing to a minimum of 80 a year by 2009-10.
  
  
• The Advanced Specialist Training Posts in Rural Areas (ASTPRA) program significantly increases the opportunities for medical specialist training in rural Victoria. Over the past four years, funding of over $5 million has enabled 150 senior registrars to complete their medical specialist training in rural Victoria. 
  
  
• The Victorian Government has committed $4.4 million to a four-year international recruitment program to attract additional qualified doctors to Victoria.
  
  
• The Government continues to invest in the Victorian health workforce in the 2007-08 State Budget through implementation of its 2006 election policy commitments and support of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Health Workforce Reform agenda. The Budget includes:
  
  
• $18.4 million over four years to introduce a system for supporting specialist training. The system will improve medical trainees’ access to specialist training rotations in an expanded range of public and private settings
  
  
• $4.5 million over four years to increase the number of highly skilled specialists practising in rural areas. A further 15 doctors will be offered posts in rural hospitals to train in disciplines such as surgery, obstetrics, anaesthesia, pathology, paediatrics and other specialties
  
  
• $5.6 million over four years to provide recurrent funding for an extra 11 GP proceduralist posts in rural and regional Victoria to improve rural access to obstetric, anaesthetic and surgical skills, and further support rural maternity and mental health services
  
  
• $6.7 million over four years to continue improvements in service delivery and quality in rural areas through the Rural Workforce Program. The program has resulted in significant improvements in the recruitment and retention of health professionals in rural Victoria
  
  
• $7.8 million over four years to establish a national assessment process for international medical graduates, incorporating improved orientation and upskilling programs
  
  
• $750,000 over three years for more rural training for obstetricians and GP obstetricians. Eight new posts over two years in rural GP obstetrics training and new rural specialist obstetrics and gynaecology posts will be funded in hospitals in rural and regional Victoria

Victoria is investing in rural health services

• The public health system in rural Victoria is characterised by innovation and adaptation, with service changes and developments in place that allow flexible use of resources in order to meet community needs.
  
  
• The Victorian Government is committed to providing health services closer to rural Victorian communities. A great example is Goulburn Valley Health’s Integrated Care Centre below.
  
  
• The 2007-08 State Budget provides another $153 million boost to country health. This includes:
  
  
• $7.1 million over four years to support continuation of infrastructure upgrades at bush nursing hospitals and small rural health services across the state
  
  
• $14.4 million over four years to increase allowances for rural doctors who work on-call in emergency departments and assist rural hospitals to provide increased on-call service capacity in emergency departments
  
  
• $5.6 million over four years to enable the continued provision of midwifery models of care in rural Victoria, providing greater options for rural women during pregnancy and birth
  
  
• $22.4 million over four years to continue the boost for elective surgery targeted at rural hospitals in key regional centres
  
  
• $4.2 million over four years for the Victorian Patient Transport Assistance Scheme (VPTAS) for rural patients
  
  
• $7.4 million to upgrade ambulance stations in rural Victoria, with a further $8.3 million provided to support the Air Ambulance service across the state
  
  
• $10.9 million over four years for rural workforce initiatives to increase the number of highly skilled specialists and GPs practising in rural areas
  
  
• $6.7 million over four years for the Rural Workforce Program to continue improvements in service delivery and quality in rural areas through:
  
  
• Extension of the Training Consortia Model that has increased the number of physician training posts in rural areas
  
  
• Establishment of two new Associate Professor positions in Rural Allied Health to support the recruitment, training and retention of allied health professionals in rural areas
  
  
• Support for the recruitment and retention of the allied health workforce in Victoria’s five rural regions
  
  
• $10.3 million over four years to improve oral health outcomes for Victorians living in rural and regional areas and for disadvantaged senior Victorians.
  
  
• $62.1 million in capital funds for new residential aged care and rehabilitation services for senior Victorians, particularly in rural Victoria.
  
  
• $1.83 million to extend counselling for rural communities affected by drought

Integrated Care in Goulburn Valley Goulburn Valley Health’s Integrated Care Centre in Shepparton is an example of health services being provided closer to rural Victorian communities. The facility is part of a $14m investment into new and expanded facilities and services at the hospital. The multi-purpose two-storey building delivers a range of services including allied health, podiatry, continence, dental, wound management and drug and alcohol services. It will also house a diabetes centre and a falls and mobility clinic.

The successful Hospital Admission Risk Program (HARP) and Hospital in the Home program also operate out of the centre.