April 2004

Asthma ward lets Victorians breathe easier

A Victoria-first ward specialising in treatment of asthma and other respiratory illnesses has been opened at Monash Medical Centre to get patients out of hospital and on the road to recovery.

Launching the Respiratory Care Unit (RCU), Health Minister Bronwyn Pike said it would help patients with chronic respiratory illnesses out of the emergency department into specialised care.

It will also work with them to reduce the need of emergency assistance.

The new ward has been established under the Government’s Hospital Demand Management Strategy, which committed $890 million in the last State Budget to increase capacity to cope with demand growth and improve patient care processes, including admission and discharge procedures.

The Government contributed $346,000 to establish and $356,000 a year to run the unit.

Respiratory patients who arrive through the emergency department will either be referred directly to the ward or transferred there after being stabilised.

‘After treatment in the unit, patients may then be transferred to a hospital bed or discharged home for recuperation if their illness has been treated,’ Ms Pike said.

The initiative also breaks new ground by employing specialist workers to liaise between the hospital, the patients and their GPs and to follow up the patients to ensure their medication and management plans are working.

‘The new unit will help patients with these respiratory illnesses get into hospital more quickly, get treated more appropriately and get home more readily with a long-term plan to manage their condition.’

Ms Pike said each year about 3,500 people were admitted to Monash Medical Centre with respiratory-related diseases.

‘Of these patients, about 80 per cent come in through the emergency department, after their illness has escalated to the point where they need hospitalisation.

Admissions peak in winter but many patients find themselves in hospital several times a year as their illness escalates.

‘Many of the patients are older people with conditions that tend to worsen quickly—but which also respond to treatment quickly.

‘The initiative will help to link them better with their GPs to manage their illness and read the warning signs so that they can get treated and stabilised while living at home without the need for a rush trip to hospital,’ Ms Pike said.