Virtual care comes to NSW prisons and courts

All correctional facilities in New South Wales now have access to virtual care services.

The Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network has worked with Corrective Services NSW, Youth Justice NSW and local health districts to roll out virtual care in prisons, courts and youth courts across the state.

According to a press release, the service provides routine and specialized care to people in custody, including prenatal and palliative care, mental health services and chronic disease management. The service also uses multi-function medical cameras and scopes.

WHY IT MATTERS

“Patients in correctional settings have unique needs and often poorer health outcomes than patients in the rest of the community,” said Wendy Hoey, chief executive of Justice Health NSW.

Because virtual care enables early diagnosis and treatment of diseases, the need to transfer patients to hospitals is further reduced, keeping more patients out of already crowded emergency departments, Hoey points out.

THE BIGGER TREND

Since 2021, NSW has been scaling up the integration of virtual care as an alternative pathway to access care, guided by a five-year strategy. Last year, it completed the rollout of the NSW Telestroke Service across the state and announced the statewide expansion of the virtualKIDS Urgent Care Service. The Murrumbidgee Local Health District in southern NSW piloted the virtual hub concept, a dedicated telehealth facility in rural communities, late last year. The Virtual Rural Generalist Service, first introduced in northern NSW, has also recently expanded to southern NSW.