A hospital in the home service aimed at keeping patients out of hospital and cared for in the community is now permanent in the North of the state.
The Community Rapid Response – Hospital in the Home was launched as a trial in Launceston in 2016 and was extremely successful. As a result, the Hodgman Liberal Government has committed $4.5 million over four years to permanently funding the program, which has now been rolled out across the greater Launceston area, offering care to patients at home seven days a week.
The program provides acute nursing services to patients at home or in residential aged care facilities under the guidance of GPs.
This reduces hospital presentations, delivering quality care in the community or in the home, especially for patients with chronic or complex illnesses who are frequently in the hospital or presenting to the emergency department. It also means patients are treated in a comfortable home environment, closer to family.
Since commencing in 2016, the Launceston service has accepted 1600 referrals and provided more than 16,300 patient contacts.
It currently has nine permanent staff and eight additional casual staff members, based near the Launceston General Hospital.
Following the success of the Launceston trial, recruitment will begin in the coming weeks for trials in the North-West and South. It is estimated more than 30 new allied health professionals and nurses will be recruited to operate the service, providing around 20,000 appointments and other services in the next three years.
The Tasmanian Government is focused on delivering more health services and better outcomes for patients through initiatives like this one, which provides the right care, in the right place, at the right time to make Tasmanians’ lives better.
Our health targets include:
See all our targets at https://www.tas.liberal.org.au/sites/default/files/BuildingYourFuture.pdf