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Outreach surgical consulting services in N orth E ast V ictoria
Author(s) -
Chittleborough Timothy John,
Lourensz Kaleb,
Elliott Matthew,
Thomas Peter,
Franzi Stephen
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
australian journal of rural health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.48
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1440-1584
pISSN - 1038-5282
DOI - 10.1111/ajr.12065
Subject(s) - outreach , medicine , workload , referral , family medicine , complaint , nursing , management , political science , law , economics
Objective There is a paucity of data regarding the provision of consultative outreach specialist surgical services to rural areas. This paper aims to describe a model of outreach consultative practice to deliver specialist surgical services to rural communities. Design Analysis of prospectively collected data for consultations in a three month period for two surgeons based in W angaratta. Setting Two surgeons in regional V ictoria based in W angaratta, N orth E ast V ictoria, conducting outreach consultations to B eechworth, B enalla, B right and M ansfield. Participants All patients seen in consultations over a 3‐month period. Main outcome measures Patient workload, casemix of presenting complaint, consultation outcome including plan for surgical procedure. Results Outreach surgical consulting was associated with a higher proportion of new consultations, and there was trend towards being more likely to result in a surgical procedure than consultations in the base rural centre. Conclusions Outreach surgical consulting provides surgeons with a larger referral base and provides communities with better access to local specialists. Outreach practice should be encouraged for surgeons in regional centres.