Gippsland paramedics are using Victoria's Virtual Emergency Department (VED) service up to five times a shift, connecting patients with non-urgent problems to emergency clinicians by video instead of clogging up hospitals.

The numbers: Last financial year, 11,100 people across Gippsland used a VED service, including 6,350 patients who were set up with an online appointment by healthcare professionals such as paramedics, aged care nurses and urgent care centre staff.

🩺 What is it? Launched in October 2020 as Northern Health’s initial Covid response, the VED was later expanded statewide with support from the state government, including an initial commitment of $21 million in May 2022 and a further investment of $437 million in the 2025/26 budget.

  • The service provides urgent medical assessment via video consultation, allowing patients with non-life-threatening conditions to speak with an emergency clinician without travelling to hospital.

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🚑 First responders: For Ambulance Victoria crews, the VED is an option when they determine a patient does not require hospital treatment.

What they said: Victorian Ambulance Union Secretary, Danny Hill, said some paramedics were using the service up to five times during a shift.

  • 🗣️ “When the crew get there, they find out it's just sunburn on their chest and that can be dealt with through virtual ED,” he told the Monitor’s sister publication the Eastern Melburnian.

The VED Clinical Director, Dr Loren Sher, said “virtual care is growing and the importance of it is just making sure it’s addressing a specific need. It takes pressure off our emergency departments, which we know are under strain”.

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🔎 The studies: Research from Ambulance Victoria, Monash University and the VED found 30,433 ambulance presentations were referred to the service between October 2021 and May 2023.

  • Almost three-quarters of those patients were not transported to hospital.

🧓 Elderly risks: The benefits can be particularly significant for older people in residential aged care, where hospital transfers can be disruptive and potentially risky.

  • A 2025 study of 260 aged care residents who had fallen and struck their head found 24.2 percent were transferred to hospital after a VED assessment.

⏭️ What’s next? Doctor Sher said the service supports about 1,000 patients per day across the state, with plans to reach 1,500 by the end of June 2027.

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