Background
Approximately 2.3% of Australians live in remote areas and 29% live in regional areas of Australia. Goulburn Valley Health (GV Health) has a primary catchment area of 70,000 and specialised service to regional population of approximately 160,000. The West Hume Regional Integrated Cancer Service (RICS) proposed to support the expansion of GV Health’s Supportive Care Meeting and screening program to include outlying health services in the West Hume region and Kyabram.
Aim
To collaborate with the smaller health services in the region to create better experiences for cancer patients and carers so that they may receive supportive care as close to home as possible, and within their local community.
Objectives
To expand the current Supportive Care meeting to include District Nursing and Palliative Care services from: Kyabram and Moira shire. To further expand the meeting to include additional disciplines and services including but not limited to allied and community health professionals.
Results
For the time period January 2013 to December 2014, 609 patients have been discussed at the expanded supportive care meeting. More appropriate referrals to supportive care services within patient’s local community and health services have been facilitated resulting in 248 referrals to allied health, community and specialist nurse services. Improved relationships and knowledge between health service providers. Increased number of the cancer workforce trained to initiate supportive care screening, early identification and management of supportive care needs of cancer patients and their families.
Conclusion
A process driven, service improvement has resulted in better outcomes for patients, teams and health services including: Better clinical decision making supported through the expansion of Supportive Care Teams across the region and into private practice.