GEDI to the rescue - phone a friend for geriatric care

Glen Forrest based GP Dr Siobhain Brennan* recently utilised the services of the new Geriatric Emergency Department Intervention team (GEDI) at St John of God Midland Public and Private Hospitals and was very impressed by the service.

21 Jun 2022

Last Friday I was facing a decision about sending a patient to an Emergency Department for urgent workup of a neurological age related issue with some complexities.

I decided to call the new Geriatric Emergency Department Intervention (GEDI) service and see if they could provide advice. A super helpful registrar answered my call for help. She heard me out, made some sensible suggestions of plans for the weekend, organised an immediate follow-up on Monday and called the patient to arrange an appointment time to suit.

On Monday I received a call back from the team with an assessment, a plan and recommended referrals. I felt supported and re-assured, and my patient avoided a weekend in the Emergency Department. I called my patient on Monday afternoon to confirm the plan going forward, and she was very satisfied and felt very cared for by the process.

I cannot recommend this new service enough and wanted to share my experience to fellow GPs who have patients in the Midland catchment area, so that they can put this mobile number in their phone and consider calling a “GEDI friend” to save your lovely older patients having ED visits if avoidable.

I would also like to thank the GEDI team involved for all their efforts.

Further information

Based in St John of God Midland Public and Private Hospitals Emergency Department, GEDI provide support to GPs in the hospital’s catchment area with their decision making for emergency care of geriatric patients. GEDI is available from Monday to Friday between 8am and 5pm on 0438 493 292.

The multidisciplinary team consists of a consultant geriatrician, geriatric registrar, physiotherapist, social worker and are linked in to other services in the hospital.

*Dr Brennan is also the Director of GP Liaison at St John of God Midland Public and Private Hospitals.