The Safer Care for Kids project aims to implement three recommendations:
- Mandate the use of Victorian Children’s Tool for Observation and Response (ViCTOR) by all clinicians wherever children and young people have vital signs recorded
- Design a centralised parental and carer escalation process.
- Implement a system of 24/7 virtual paediatric emergency consultation.
The Safer Care for Kids project is being completed over 4 phases. 
Progress
Phase two of the Safer Care for Kids project is now complete. The project has now progressed to phase three which will focus on piloting and testing. The three recommendations will become separate projects with the management of these projects being divided between the Department of Health and Safer Care Victoria (SCV) as detailed below:
1. Mandate the use of Victorian Children’s Tool for Observation and Response (ViCTOR) by all clinicians wherever children and young people have vital signs recorded.
- SCV will partner with health services to assist with meeting the requirements of the 2023/24 and 2024/25 Statement of Priorities to utilise and monitor the use of the ViCTOR charts in health services where children have their vital signs monitored and recorded.
- SCV has refined the ViCTOR charts, to emphasise assessment of family and carer concern when recording vital sign observations, which will be tested in a range of Victorian health services.
- SCV will also develop and test a monitoring process that will audit the appropriate use of ViCTOR charts.
- Once testing of the revised ViCTOR charts and audit tool improvement initiatives are complete, SCV will make these available to all Victorian health services.
2. Design a centralised family and carer escalation process.
The Hospitals and Health Services division of the Department of Health will manage phases three and four of the family and carer-led escalation system.
- The escalation line will be named the ‘Urgent Concern Helpline.’ It will provide an escalation process for consumers, their families and/or carers of paediatric patients in acute health services to escalate any concerns about a deterioration in health, of themselves or a loved one, when they feel their concerns are not being heard.
- The Urgent Concern Helpline will not replace local health service escalation processes, but instead provide an additional point of contact for advocacy and or support when local responses have been exhausted.
- The Victorian Virtual Emergency Department, operated by Northern Health, will design, implement, and operate the Urgent Concern Helpline.
- The Urgent Concern Helpline will initially be tested and piloted at key sites.
- An evaluation of the pilot will be conducted, and findings incorporated into the service model prior to expansion.
- An expert advisory group has been established to support the design and implementation of the Urgent Concern Helpline. The expert advisory group comprises a diverse membership, including people with lived experience, health care professionals and representatives from pilot sites, the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department, SCV and the Department of Health.
3. Implement a system of 24/7 virtual paediatric emergency consultation
- SCV will progress plans in tandem with system reforms to ensure this recommendation is met. This includes a strategic partnership with Department of Health and the Victorian Paediatric Clinical Network to:
- Strengthen sector awareness of the 24/7 paediatric consultation available via the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department to Urgent Care Centres seeking consultation for treatment of a mild to moderately unwell child.
- Promote clear escalation pathways to Paediatric Infant Perinatal Emergency Retrieval Service for all Victorian health services seeking support and consultation, particularly for the moderately to severely unwell child. To escalate care of the critically unwell child PIPER have defined criteria referred to as ‘Go Now’ criteria.
Next Steps
Future progress updates relating to the three recommendations will be provided as they become available.