RWAV’s VicOutreach program has been instrumental in supporting the Numurkah community in accessing a variety of outreach health professionals to deliver a comprehensive and integrated range of primary health services through Numurkah District Health Service. The services include onsite visits from a visiting psychiatrist, psychologist and mental health nurse as well as a telehealth psychiatry clinic twice a month. With the support from RWAV the community now have access to a geriatrician and with a multidisciplinary approach has improved health outcomes for the elderly population. Local women have access to gynaecology services which has improved women’s health in the rural area. All of the RWAV services delivered to the community of Numurkah are bulk billed and accessible for all in the area.
The Numurkah community has high levels of socio economic disadvantage and a significant ageing population. The community has high rates of diabetes, avoidable deaths such as cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory disease, teenage pregnancy and obesity. The community has experienced significant stress in recent years with changing climate conditions, dairy industry crisis, fire and flood.
“RWAV support has enabled our health service to offer a wide range of additional services to our local community. These services were not previously accessible locally” says Sarah Finlayson, Manager of Quality, Numurkah District Health Service.
Finlayson said “RWAV’s Outreach services are critically important to our local community and have brought significant benefits to our local community, saving them long travel times, additional costs and much longer waiting times.” She goes on to say that they find “RWAV very responsive and supportive to our local community needs.”
The community of Numurkah can now access the right service at the right time.
