Access to Care

Patients need to know they can access care when it is needed. Focusing mainly on ambulatory care, the following areas were of importance to the patient:

Access to the location of hospitals, clinics and physician offices.
Availability of Transportation.
Ease of scheduling appointments.

Access to Help in a Crisis or Emergency

Alternatives to Acute Hospital - APAC/GP Shared Care - Northern Sydney Central Coast Area Health Service
The Northern Beaches (NBs) APAC/GP Shared Care model was initiated in 2006/2007 in response to increasing demand on Emergency Departments (EDs) and the growing number of elderly patients, with ambulatory sensitive conditions, being admitted to hospital.

Healthcare for Older Persons Earlier (HOPE) Strategy - Sydney West Area Health Service
The HOPE Strategy aims to provide older people, their families and carers with immediate access to skilled clinicians and responsive and appropriate care.

Paediatric Ambulatory Care - The way of the future - Northern Sydney Central Coast Area Health Service
Program to provide high quality, appropriate, safe and supportive care for acutely unwell children with the aim of avoiding unnecessary hospitalisation and to provide high levels of parent satisfaction.

Wagga Wagga Mental Health Emergency Care Support Centre - Greater Southern Area Health Service
The Wagga Wagga Mental Health Emergency Care Support Centre (MHECSC) is an innovative technological solution to address the problem of poor timeliness and access to specialist mental health emergency assessment and support.

Availability of (Other) Health Care Professionals

Alternatives to Acute Hospital - APAC/GP Shared Care - Northern Sydney Central Coast Area Health Service
The Northern Beaches (NBs) APAC/GP Shared Care model was initiated in 2006/2007 in response to increasing demand on Emergency Departments (EDs) and the growing number of elderly patients, with ambulatory sensitive conditions, being admitted to hospital.

Driving Change in Mental Health - Sydney West Area Health Service
The clinical redesign of community mental health in one of the sectors of SWAHS was identified as an area for improvement due to issues in service capacity. This was impacting on length of stay (LOS) of the inpatient unit as well as the number of clients seen by the service.

Health Professional Considered Travel When Planning Treatment

Establishing Shared Care Outreach Oncology in Rural NSW - Greater Southern Area Health Service
A pilot oncology outreach clinic involving training of local staff to administer chemotherapy, in partnership with ACT medical oncologists and the local GPs was established in Cooma.

La Perouse Aboriginal Community Health Centre - South Eastern Sydney Illawarra Area Health Service
The La Perouse Aboriginal Community Health Centre provides health care for the local Aboriginal community.

Length of Time From Arrival to Departure in Outpatient / Emergency Department

Establishment of an Express Community Care Centre - North Coast Area Health Service
Program to reduce variability in wait times for non-urgent ED presentations and increased access to home-based care options.

Waited Too Long for an Appointment

BreastScreen NSW Service within Northern Sydney Central Coast Health - Northern Sydney Central Coast Area Health Service
This service maintains an ongoing consumer service program that monitors the experiences of clients who attend for screening and assessment.

Shorter Waits for Upper Limb Clinic - Flinders Medical Centre
Flinders Medical Centre developed a new process to address waiting times at their Upper Limb Outpatient Clinic.

Waited Too Long for the Scheduled Appointment / Treatment to Commence

Shorter Waits for Upper Limb Clinic - Flinders Medical Centre
Flinders Medical Centre developed a new process to address waiting times at their Upper Limb Outpatient Clinic.

Gynaecological Oncology Pooled Public Surgical Lists - Hunter New England Area Health Service
Project to pool the Gynaecological Oncology public surgical lists in an attempt to improve access to surgery for women listed on the 30-day clinical urgency category.

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