Table 1 Population, health service facilities and characteristics of vCare encounters by facility remoteness, Western NSW, 1 February to 31 March 2021
| Â | Modified Monash Model Scorea | Total N (%) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | ||
Western NSW Health Service | ||||||
 Facilities, N (% of row total) | 4 (10.0) | 4 (10.0) | 21 (52.5) | 8 (20.0) | 3 (7.5) | 40 (100.0) 283,060 |
 Population served, N | 142,001 | 62,117 | 58,501 | 16,745 | 3,696 | |
vCare encounters | ||||||
 N (% of row total) | 23 (1.4) | 443 (26.5) | 800 (47.8) | 341 (20.4) | 65 (3.9) | 1,672 (100.0) |
 per facility | 7.7 | 110.8 | 38.1 | 42.6 | 32.5 | 44.0 |
 per 1,000 population | 0.2 | 7.1 | 13.7 | 20.4 | 17.6 | 5.9 |
vCare encounters by sex, % (% of population by sex) | ||||||
 Female | 47.8 (50.6) | 52.6 (50.1) | 48.6 (50.0) | 48.1 (49.5) | 44.6 (50.2) | 49.4 (50.3) |
 Male | 52.2 (49.4) | 47.4 (49.9) | 51.4 (50.0) | 51.9 (50.5) | 55.4 (49.8) | 50.6 (49.7) |
vCare encounters by age, % (% of population by age) | ||||||
 Child (< 15 years) | 0.0 (20.5) | 17.2 (19.4) | 10.4 (18.9) | 12.3 (19.7) | 12.3 (21.6) | 12.5 (19.9) |
 Adult (15 < 65 years) | 65.2 (61.7) | 48.5 (58.3) | 46.4 (56.8) | 59.5 (59.9) | 64.6 (63.5) | 50.6 (59.8) |
 Older person (65 + years) | 34.8 (17.9) | 34.3 (22.3) | 43.3 (24.4) | 28.2 (20.4) | 23.1 (15.0) | 36.9 (20.3) |
vCare encounters by priorityb, N (%) | ||||||
 A (high urgency) |  < 5 (16.7) | 19 (4.5) | 36 (4.6) | 17 (5.1) |  < 5 (3.2) | 77 (4.8) |
 B (semi-urgent) | 8 (44.4) | 193 (46.1) | 432 (55.3) | 160 (47.9) | 37 (58.7) | 830 (50.1) |
 C (non-urgent) | 7 (38.9) | 207 (49.4) | 313 (40.1) | 157 (47.0) | 24 (38.1) | 708 (42.7) |
vCare encounters by time of day, N (%) | ||||||
 Morning (0700–1430 h) | 7 (30.4) | 164 (37.1) | 256 (32.0) | 126 (37.1) | 14 (21.5) | 567 (34.0) |
 Afternoon/evening (1430–2300 h) | 7 (30.4) | 218 (49.3) | 433 (54.1) | 172 (50.6) | 39 (60.0) | 869 (52.4) |
 Night (2300–0700 h) | 9 (39.1) | 60 (13.6) | 111 (13.9) | 42 (12.4) | 12 (18.5) | 234 (14.1) |
vCare encounters by camera assistance, N (%) | ||||||
 Yes |  < 5 (4.3) | 42 (9.5) | 186 (23.5) | 76 (22.4) | 13 (20.3) | 318 (19.2) |
 No | 22 (95.7) | 398 (90.5) | 605 (76.5) | 263 (77.6) | 51 (79.7) | 1,339 (80.8) |
vCare encounters by referring health professional, N (%) | ||||||
 Nurse (onsite) |  < 5 (14.3) | 23 (5.3) | 277 (34.9) | 76 (22.8) | 5 (7.8) | 384 (23.3) |
 Doctor (onsite) | 17 (81.0) | 414 (94.5) | 405 (51.1) | 213 (64.0) | 56 (87.5) | 1,105 (67.0) |
 VRGS doctor (off-site)c |  < 5 (4.8) |  < 5 (0.2) | 111 (14.0) | 44 (13.2) |  < 5 (4.7) | 160 (9.7) |
vCare transfers, N (%) | ||||||
 Yes | 18 (78.3) | 292 (65.9) | 558 (69.8) | 231 (67.7) | 45 (69.2) | 1,144 (68.4) |
 No | 5 (21.7) | 151 (34.1) | 242 (30.3) | 110 (32.3) | 20 (30.8) | 528 (31.6) |