Geriatric Medicine Department

The St Vincent’s Hospital Geriatrics Department is an integrated, multi-disciplinary unit providing care to older people. The team evaluates and manages the physical, cognitive, functional and social issues of older adults.

The geriatric department is responsible for managing common geriatric issues such as: 

  • Dementia
  • Delirium
  • Falls
  • Urinary incontinence
  • Polypharmacy – taking lots of medications 
  • Frailty
  • Other medical problems occurring in older people with multiple co-morbidities

Government Initiatives and Standard of Care

The unit is focused on providing excellent, holistic and patient-centred care.  The unit focuses on continuing education, research and clinical governance to review and provide the highest quality of care to its patients.

Inpatient Services

The acute geriatric unit at St Vincent’s Hospital comprises of 38 inpatient beds on level 9 North. The Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) is located alongside the acute geriatric unit and works closely with it to promptly assess and manage geriatric patients. The MAU is often the initial assessment location from the emergency department or directly from the community. Both wards have dedicated multi-disciplinary teams of medical and allied health staff to assess and manage elderly patients admitted to St Vincent’s Hospital. 

Linked Services

The inpatient geriatric service links closely with our outpatient clinics and psychogeriatric service. Referrals are also made to War Memorial Hospital, Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Unit, St Luke’s Hospital, St Vincent’s Community Health, Geriatric Flying Squad, Hospital in the Home, Transitional Aged Care Programs, residential aged care facilities & outreach facilities for rehabilitation or for re-integration into the community after hospital. 

Outpatient Services

The geriatric department provides outpatient geriatric services to help manage people within the community. Initial appointments run for 1 hour and follow up appointments for 30 minutes. Physical and cognitive screening tools are used to help diagnose conditions and to track a patient’s progress over time. The outpatient clinic also provide support to people to manage their general health, manage dementia and other neurocognitive disorders, link-up with social support and services and to help maintain their mobility and independence. 

The clinic hours are:

Tuesday 10am – 12pm with Dr Shahrzad Jahromi
Thursday 9:30am – 12:30pm with Dr Sandy Beveridge, Dr Nicholas Ingham and Dr Nicholas Mills

A GP referral is required for an outpatient appointment. All GP referrals must be addressed to the specific doctor that you will be seeing. No fee is incurred for these appointments as they are Medicare bulk billed.

As St Vincent’s Public Hospital is a teaching hospital, your appointment may be conducted by an advanced trainee under the supervision of a consultant geriatrician. After your appointment, a letter will be sent to your GP detailing what was discussed in the appointment and if any follow up is required. 

The Team

The multidisciplinary team comprises of medical, nursing, allied health, administrative staff and volunteers.

The medical team includes 6 staff specialists in geriatric medicine: 

  • Dr Sandy Beveridge (Head of Department)
  • Dr Nicholas Ingham
  • Dr Shahrzad Jahromi
  • Dr Elizabeth Harper
  • Dr Patricia Reyes 
  • Dr Nicholas Mills
  • Dr Veronica Tung
  • Dr Ornagh Griffin

They are supported by 4 advanced trainees in geriatric medicine and a team of junior medical staff.

The nursing team is led by: 

  • Victoria Simpson (Nurse Unit Manager)
  • Yin Lo (Clinical Nurse Educator)
  • Heather Mackrory (Care-coordinator) and supported by a dedicated team of registered and enrolled nurses.

Other specialties such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, social work and representatives from speech therapy, dietetics, pharmacy, pastoral care and a dedicated group of volunteers are all involved in geriatric care.

Contact

Phone: 02 8382 4194
Fax: 02 8382 4193
Email: geriatrics.svhs@svha.org.au
Administrative Officers: Thomas Elphick and Bradley Ravello