Abstract Body

Background and purpose

Countries, facing the challenge of COVID-19, need to provide services that can adapt to fluctuations in demand and changing circumstances. In 2020, the Australian Government established 140 COVID-19 testing and screening ‘respiratory disease clinics’ across Australia. Our clinic, the first to open in Victoria, established a safe, effective and adaptive model of care employing a casual workforce of health assistants from multiple training backgrounds. This paper describes a model of care that can adjust to continue to screen patients for COVID-19, whilst simultaneously rolling out vaccinations aimed at preventing infection.

Methods

The respiratory clinic operates across two sessions, with three clinicians providing clinical services and Covid-19 testing. The patient transits through three phases of care after making an appointment:

-Telephone registration and nurse-triage, from offices located above the clinic

-In clinic assessment and testing, via drive-through or in-room consultation, determined clinically

-Post-consultation notification of results to the patient and their regular GP, and data reporting.

Health assistants book appointments, guide patients, assist with infection control, remotely transcribe consultations (using video-consultation from the clinic) and complete post-visit notifications. New staff are trained using a buddy system.

Results

The adaptive model entails appointments for sessional vaccination clinics are made only when a nurse is satisfied that patients have enough information to provide informed consent. Patients attend for nurse-led vaccinations in cohorts, guided and supported by health assistants. Vaccination details and notifications are gathered and transcribed remotely by video.

Conclusions

This ‘Pandemic-flexible’ model of care, where clinicians are supported by health assistants, can be further adapted to accommodate different clinical scenarios.