Enhanced Primary Care in Residential Aged Care Facilities Pilot

The Pilot project aims to enhance workforce capability and Quality Improvement processes within RACFs in collaboration with GCHHS and Primary Care Providers to improve coordination and clinical management of palliative and end of life care for residents.

By the end of this project, a comprehensive evidence-based palliative approach to care for people residing in RACFs and their families, will be developed and implemented within the 5 identified RACFs, in collaboration with servicing GPs.

This project aims to:

• promote best practice in generalist – level palliative care through an integrated and multifaceted program of provider education and practice support.
• provide a point of contact for RACF clinical staff to communicate with expert clinical palliative staff to provide advice and guidance to facilitate an alternative to hospital transfer for acute, subacute and outpatient services
• facilitate early and proactive planning of transfers between GCHHS and RACFs.

Health Pathways

There will be development of a framework on the HealthyGC website which provides GPs with directions for key clinical processes resulting from their assessment plan, case conference, or terminal care management plan. The platform provides information and resources to support each of these and includes supporting links and contacts for community, specialist and hospital services.

As a result of this project, nurses and GPs will have an identified platform which has easy and convenient access to information to help them care for people who are palliative and at the end of their life. Timely access to palliative care information will support the clinical care being provided.  An online-offline capacity means they can access the information anywhere. As this is web-based, it can be updated as new evidence and resources are released.

Volunteer services for In- Home Palliative patients and carers

GCPHN will be holding a co-design workshop to Explore opportunities to work with like-minded organisations in the region to collaboratively implement a Gold Coast PHN-led palliative care volunteer program.