RACF Acute Support Service available to support RACF residents, staff and GPs

The Residential Aged Care Facility (RACF) Acute Support Service (RaSS) continues to be available to support RACF residents, RACF staff and GPs. The service continues to be available 7 days a week from 7:30am-6pm.

The aims of this service are to:

• Optimise the quality of care for residents of RACFs with acute health care needs across the care continuum.
• The service comprises a range of senior Doctors and Nurses whose remit is to provide clinical advice and support for RACF residents’ acute care needs. An outreach team is available to provide clinical care to the residents in the RACF by acting as an ED alternative where appropriate and improving resident choice for care delivery.

The team will provide a single point of contact for RACFs and GPs, on behalf of Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service.

The service can be contacted on 1300 004 242.

The team will work in collaboration with GPs and RACF staff in relation to residents who become unwell, to formulate clinical management plans appropriate to residents identified goals of care. Where safe and appropriate, the RaSS team will provide clinical interventions on- site at the RACF. This will be on a case by case basis dependent on clinical need and available options for on-site care delivery.

We can also offer clinical advice via phone and by virtual options including Microsoft Teams, Skype, Telehealth and FaceTime.

For residents who present to ED or are admitted to hospital, the RaSS team will liaise with treating hospital teams, GPs, RACF staff and will support coordination around discharge with an individualized plan for continuity of care. We will be providing follow up phone calls post discharge to identify and address any concerns.

This service does not aim to replace or duplicate existing GP cover but is an additional supplementary service.