Prison Hepatitis C Videocall Treatment Program: a 2019 WA Heath Excellence Awards Finalist

Everything we do at EMHS is done so with our community in mind, including delivering services that are helping to improve health outcomes for some of the most isolated individuals in our community.

The RPH Liver Service was recently recognised as a finalist in the 2019 WA Health Excellence Awards for developing the innovative Prison Hepatitis C Videocall Treatment Program – the only one of its kind in Australia.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) affects approximately 230,000 people throughout Australia.It is treatable but disproportionately prevalent in prisons. HCV is a common cause of end-stage liver failure and liver cancer and is a leading sign for liver transplantation.

Prisoners with HCV still require hospital treatment which involves waiting lists and high costs in transportation. The RPH Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, in consultation with RPH Outpatient and Telehealth units, initiated a new model of care for prison HCV patients based on video technology through a program called Videocall.

This program allows patients to be seen quickly and efficiently, in any prison, without the patient having to leave the facility. Patient co-management with prison nurses can also occur. The short turnaround time between patients allows more patients to be seen per clinic – there is current capacity to see 10 new patients per week.

Since December 2017, 265 patients have received HCV treatments – compared to just 88 patients treated in the previous 10 years. Additional benefits of the service include a reduction in transportation requirements and less disruption to patients.