The Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) published guidelines for time critical defined transfers in Victoria (Guidelines) on 6 February 2019. The Guidelines have been published to safe guard patient care in circumstances where demand for critical care beds exceeds the immediate supply, leading to no ICU bed being immediately available for a critically ill patients requiring timely and appropriate investigations, interventions or ICU care.
The Guidelines outline the process to allow the Adult Retrieval Victoria (ARV) to nominate a hospital to receive critically ill patients. This is called a ‘defined transfer’ and reflects the time critical need for appropriate care for a critically ill or injured patient.
The Guidelines provide that the decision to authorise a defined transfer is at all times determined by the needs of the patient. Under the Guidelines, ARV may also refer to other factors when authorising a defined transfer, such as:
- the nature of the patient’s clinical condition;
- time critical defined transfer;
- the nature of the surgical or other intervention/s required by the patient; or
- the capability and capacity of the referring health service.
The Guidelines briefly outline the authorisation process that ARV must follow when a defined transfer process is required for a critically ill patient. The authorisation process includes an initiation of the process by the ARV Medical Coordinator, followed consultation and communication between the ARV Medical Coordinator, the referring and receiving Consultant clinicians.
Read more about the Guidelines here.