St Vincent's A&D team multi-award winners in MLHD Excellence Awards

26 Oct 2021

St Vincent’s Alcohol & Drug Telehealth Service have recently won two 2021 MLHD Excellence Award's in the category of Collaboration; as well as the Board Chair’s Choice Award for their telehealth program, funded by the SVHA Inclusive Health Fund. Additionally, the team are also finalists in the Catholic Healthcare HESTA Compassion in Action Social Justice Awards.

The program delivers Addiction Medicine Specialist clinics via videoconferencing to facilitate access to specialist care for people living in remote and rural areas in the Murrumbidgee region who are living with substance use dependence. The Model of Care involves Specialist support from St Vincent’s, provided as part of a ‘shared care’ approach, where day-to-day care is delivered by MLHD Drug & Alcohol clinicians in between specialist Telehealth appointments.

In addition to the Telehealth clinics, St Vincent’s Addiction Medicine Specialists are also offering alcohol and drug specialist clinical skills training, capacity building and support for health professionals in the Murrumbidgee region, including upskilling interested
rural GPs to prescribe Opioid Agonist Treatment and other pharmacotherapies.

An evaluation of the pilot initiative revealed that wait times to receive addiction specialist care in MLHD have reduced from two-three months to less than one week, and 100% of clients strongly agree or agree that telehealth is a convenient way to receive their care.

Following the success and proven effectiveness of the pilot program, NSW Ministry of Health allocated permanent, ongoing funding for the St Vincent’s Alcohol and Drug Telehealth Service. This will allow for the continuation of the service to MLHD beyond the pilot period, additionally it will facilitate the expansion of the service to support SNSWLHD, FWLHD and WNSWLHD on an ongoing basis.

These awards represent great recognition of the partnership between St Vincent's and Murrumbidgee Local Health District, and St Vincent's commitment to providing innovative, compassionate care where it is needed most. Congratulations to all involved!