EMPHN has funded Carrington Health, Eastern Health and partners to bring a multidisciplinary Type 2 Diabetes service, in partnership with Inspiro: Community Health Service.
The Integrated Diabetes Education and Assessment Service (IDEAS) Lilydale site was chosen to meet the needs of people living in the Yarra Ranges area, which has one of the highest rates of preventable hospital admissions for Type 2 Diabetes in east and north-east Melbourne*.
Federal Member for Casey, The Hon Tony Smith MP, said Type 2 Diabetes has an enormous impact on the health and wellbeing of our community.
“In the Yarra Ranges we see high numbers of people admitted to hospital due to complications from Type 2 Diabetes.
“This service works to directly address this by treating people in a community setting, often closer to home with a care team they can build rapport with,” he said.
EMPHN CEO, Robin Whyte, said IDEAS Lilydale aims to provide greater local access to services for people who are living with and managing their diabetes.
“The specialised care team at IDEAS aims to prevent people’s symptoms worsening and requiring hospitalisation by providing effective management and treatment,” she said.
Carrington Health General Manager Partnerships and Service Development, Carina Martin, said she looks forward to seeing the effective service expand to Lilydale which has worked well for people in nearby areas.
“For the last ten years, IDEAS has brought diabetes specialists, nurses and people with diabetes together as a team with great results and we’re excited to be able to bring this service to Lilydale,” she said.
The service is delivered by Carrington Health, Inspiro, Eastern Health, EACH and Access Health and Community.
To find out more about IDEAS Lilydale, call 9738 8801. A GP referral is needed. The service is based at Inspiro: Community Health Service, 17 Clarke St, Lilydale, and operates on a Wednesday afternoon.
*In 2016-17, in the Yarra Ranges area there were 223 potentially preventable diabetes related hospitalisations.
Ninety-five per cent of people referred by their GP for Type 2 Diabetes to Eastern Health Specialist Diabetes Clinics are now having their diabetes managed closer to home at an IDEAS clinic, like the Inspiro IDEAS clinic in Lilydale.
The initiative is supported by Australian Government funding under the PHN program.
Media enquiries: Claire James claire.james@emphn.org.au 0425 887 397