The Evolution of a Dedicated Admissions Therapist in Rehabilitation in the Home (RITH)
Rochelle Hoggan, Royal Fremantle Hospital
The South Metropolitan Area Health Service (SMAHS) Rehabilitation in the Home (RITH) program commenced in June 2005 providing a service for early discharge clients requiring allied health input with 4 clinical full time equivalent (FTE) staff. Significant growth of the service has resulted in increased FTE of both allied health clinicians and support staff. Support staff includes an area wide manager, local coordinators and clerical staff. In April 2007, in response to rising referrals, a dedicated admissions therapist commenced.
The development of the admissions therapist role has been unique for RITH, with no similar role in other allied health teams based in the community or hospital settings in Western Australia. Without other similar positions to model this position on, the duties and scope of this position have changed in course with the development of the service.
The admissions therapist currently:
- Conducts screening and acceptance of referrals.
- Liaises between the referees and RITH staff.
- Coordinates management of clients.
- Acts as a consultant to other staff in routine and complex case management matters.
With the commencement of the admissions therapist position at 1.0FTE, there has been a significant increase in the number of referrals to the service. The results from a referee satisfaction survey demonstrated the success of the admissions therapist in providing a pivotal point of contact for the service and ensuring RITH is a relatively easy service to refer to. The communication between RITH and the medical and allied health inpatient teams has also improved.
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Download this presentation (
pdf - 696 KB) from the 1st Hospital in the Home Society (Australasia) Conference, 2008.
Biography
Rochelle Hoggan graduated from Curtin University of Technology (Perth, WA) with a Bachelor of Applied Science (Speech and Hearing science) in 1993. She worked as a speech pathologist in both paediatric and adult fields. Rochelle has worked in remote area positions and tertiary hospitals in Perth, the UK and New Zealand. In November 2006 she commenced as the coordinator for RITH at Fremantle Hospital in a job share arrangement. In this time period the RITH service in Perth has gone through significant growth and has been recognised in WA health awards for it’s excellence in service.
Contact
Coordinator, Rehabilitation in the Home, South Metropolitan Area Health Service
Phone: 08 9431 3899
