Emergency department

About our emergency department

Cabrini’s Alan, Ada and Eva Selwyn Emergency Department (ED) is a Monash University teaching facility staffed by dedicated emergency physicians and highly skilled nurses 24 hours, 7 days a week. We treat all emergency conditions (except major trauma) including cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, general and aged care medicine, neurology and neurosurgery, oncology, intensive care, obstetrics, and paediatrics.

Our ED at Cabrini Malvern is accredited by the Australian College of Emergency Medicine (ACEM), and has been for 10 years. ACEM accreditation recognises Cabrini’s commitment to excellence in health care, safety and quality.

We welcome all patients, whether they are ‘walk in’, referred to us by their GP, or arrive via ambulance. Services include:

• 24 hour pathology services
• A dedicated radiology suite with 24 hour access to x-ray and CT
• After hours ultrasound, nuclear medicine, MRI for urgent / life threatening diagnosis
• Rapid access to Cabrini specialists for inpatient or outpatient follow up

We treat more than 24,000 adults, infants, children and adolescents every year. Our focus is to serve our community and provide our patients and their families with high-quality and compassionate care. Our follow-up phone call program after each patient is discharged from the ED reflects our dedication to providing high-quality care and enhancing the patient experience.

If you need to be admitted to hospital after presenting to the ED, your treating team will guide you through the next steps for your care. To ensure your admission is as fast and seamless as possible, the team in ED will organise your admission to the most appropriate Cabrini facility.

• The emergency attendance fee is a fixed out-of-pocket cost and applies to all Medicare and private health insurance holders. This fee is necessary for us to be able to offer a high-quality emergency service to the community.
• If you are not eligible for Medicare, all emergency attendance fees will be at the non-Medicare rate of $1000.
• Emergency Department fees are not covered by private health insurance as per Private Health Insurance Act 2007. Private health insurance covers patients once admitted into hospital.
• Your total emergency account will vary depending upon the treatment(s) you receive on the day. If you require pathology or medical imaging services, out-of-pocket charges will apply in addition to the attendance fee.
• Payment of accounts:
  • Emergency department medical account and discharge pharmacy items are payable prior to discharge.
  • Invoices for pathology, medical imaging and take-home items will be mailed to patients.
• If you are admitted to the hospital, we will provide you with financial information relating to your admission.

The below fee estimates are for eligible Medicare-card holders.

We have prepared an extensive series of patient information sheets that relate to many of the common injuries and ailments of people presenting to our emergency department. The following sheets detail the typical treatments, what to expect, follow up information and how to seek help if symptoms or conditions don’t improve.

• Abdominal pain
• Allergy and anaphylaxis
• Ankle sprain
• Asthma
• Atrial fibrillation
• Back pain
• Bell’s Palsy
• Cellulitis
• Chest infection
• Chest pain
• Concussion
• Constipation
• Colds (see separate sheet for influenza)
• COVID-19
• Crutches – use of crutches 
• Ear issue – Earwax
• Ear issue – Otitis externa (swimmer’s ear)

Child information sheets

• Epistaxis (nose bleeds)
• Eye injury – flash burns
• Eye injury – foreign body
• Fainting and collapse
• Fractures and plaster care
• Gastritis
• Gastroenteritis
• Gout and pseudogout
• Headache – Migraine headache
• Headache – Tension headache
• Heatwave self-care
• Hives
• Influenza
  
• Intravenous Regional Anaesthesia (IVRA)
• Knee injuries
  
• Medications for pain relief
  
• Osteoarthritis
  

• Pregnancy – bleeding in early pregnancy
• Pregnancy – miscarriage
• PV Bleeding – irregular vaginal bleeding
• Renal Colic
• Rib fracture
• Sedation – Procedural sedation for adults
• Seizures
• Shingles
• Shoulder dislocation
• Snake bite
• Soft tissue injuries
• Tonsillitis and pharyngitis
• Urinary Retention
• Urinary Tract Infections (UTI)
• Urinary Tract Cystitis in women
• Vertigo
• Wound care – skin tears 
  
• Wound care – staples

• Abdominal pain in children
• Asthma in children
• Bronchiolitis
• Constipation in children

• Croup in children
  
• Crutches for children
  
• Ear issue – Ear infection in children
  
• Febrile seizures

• Fever in children
  
• Gastro in children
  
• Medications for a child in pain

The naming of the Cabrini expanded emergency department located in the Gandel Wing of the hospital is a testimony to the legacy of Alan Selwyn.

Alan was a man who was gracious and humble, kind and had a heart of gold. He considered himself blessed in every way. He adored his wife Ada for each and every day of their 66 years of marriage and treasured his daughter.

Alan attended The University of Leeds, where he studied textile engineering. As a businessman and multi-linguist, Alan pioneered Australian-Japanese economic ties, was a founding member of the Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce and was twice a delegate to the International Economic Conference.

He had a long history of philanthropic endeavours and supported hospitals, universities, medical research, museums and the arts, including as a patron of the Melbourne Arts Centre. He was a governor of Tel Aviv University, by which he was also bestowed an Honorary Fellowship. He and Ada also established a Chair in Clinical Infertility Research and Molecular Medicine. In his spare time he was a keen bridge player and twice represented Australia at the Maccabiah Games as captain of the bridge team.

To know Alan was to realise he was a great man, an optimist who lived life to the fullest, a man of integrity and respected by all.

– Eva Selwyn