Clinical Excellence Showcase

High developmental vulnerability exists throughout Queensland with disproportionate vulnerability occurring within our most rural and remote communities (more than 50 per cent). Access to tertiary-level developmental services is typically limited in these areas.

Children’s Health Queensland’s Child Development Services developed an innovative virtual telehealth service designed to bring specialist developmental services to communities. Clinical assessment and intervention are undertaken with shared expertise from the family, the local health providers and the specialist team to offer a best practice clinical service that offers health equity regardless of where the child and family live.

High developmental vulnerability exists throughout Queensland with disproportionate vulnerability occurring within our most rural and remote communities (more than 50 per cent). Access to tertiary-level developmental services is typically limited in these areas.

Children's Health Queensland's Child Development Services developed an innovative virtual telehealth service designed to bring specialist developmental services to communities. Clinical assessment and intervention are undertaken with shared expertise from the family, the local health providers and the specialist team to offer a best practice clinical service that offers health equity regardless of where the child and family live.

Medication-related adverse events are linked to 15-50 per cent of readmissions and small rural hospital and health facilities are no exception. While internationally, some collaborative, pharmacist-led programs have demonstrated a reduction in readmissions, rurally, the availability of pharmacists credentialled to provide these services is extremely limited.

The Rural Multidisciplinary Medication Outreach Service (rMMOS) seeks to address the current gap in post-discharge medication management support and pharmacist availability more acutely seen in rural and remote settings. The outcomes to date have included improved transitions of care, reduction in readmissions, improved patient adherence and improved patient understanding of medicines.

Medication-related adverse events are linked to 15-50 per cent of readmissions and small rural hospital and health facilities are no exception. While internationally, some collaborative, pharmacist-led programs have demonstrated a reduction in readmissions, rurally, the availability of pharmacists credentialled to provide these services is extremely limited.

The Rural Multidisciplinary Medication Outreach Service (rMMOS) seeks to address the current gap in post-discharge medication management support and pharmacist availability more acutely seen in rural and remote settings. The outcomes to date have included improved transitions of care, reduction in readmissions, improved patient adherence and improved patient understanding of medicines.

Dizziness accounts for approximately four per cent of chief complaints to the emergency departments in Queensland’s public hospitals. Patients who present with dizziness usually require specialist tests to determine the cause. When the cause is unclear patients living in rural or remote regions of Queensland may need to travel long distances to a tertiary hospital for further testing, taking patients away from family and support networks and increasing costs on the public health system.

To ensure patients who present with dizzy symptoms at rural or remote emergency departments are streamed to the most appropriate care pathway to treat vestibular conditions, Metro South Health piloted “The Dial-a-Dizzy project”. Dial-a-Dizzy partners the integrated ear, nose and throat (ENT) vestibular team based at Logan Hospital with rural and remote emergency departments and aims to function as a telehealth diagnostic advisory hotline to guide clinicians through the management of emergent vertigo. Vesticam infra-red video goggles have also been placed in five remote emergency departments, as well as an e-consult platform to request advice and upload video images captured with the Vesticam goggles.

Frail older persons are considered a vulnerable population and this vulnerability only increases in the COVID-19 environment. The focus and aim of this project was to provide a Hospital in the Home service to frail older persons requiring acute, rehabilitation or geriatric-type care within their home, and therefore prevent unnecessary presentations and/or admissions.

This service builds on existing Residential Aged Care Support Service (RaSS) and Geriatric Emergency Department Intervention (GEDI) models in place but specifically caters to the community dwelling frail older person in their home. It provides a 360 degree wrap around for the frail older person aiming for a comprehensive hospital avoidance model across all sectors.

In this Showcase Spotlight, Bav and Tricia will provide a high-level overview of how voluntary assisted dying will be implemented in Queensland, with a particular focus on regional, rural and remote access and delivering culturally appropriate care for First Nations peoples.

They will also share results to date on healthcare workers’ perceptions, address concerns and knowledge gaps (including myth-busters), and workshop strategies with the audience that will assist with the legislation’s implementation and uptake of associated training.

Far North Queensland faces a number of unique health challenges due to the demographic, social, economic, cultural and geographical factors of the region. Patients often face barriers to accessing the right care, in the right place at the right time. This has led to inequity in health outcomes throughout the population.

However, this also presents an opportunity to improve coordination of healthcare services across the care continuum in Queensland. To do this, the Care Coordination Service Centre has been established. The Care Coordination Service Centre is a comprehensive patient-assistance service that aims to provide the logistical and wraparound ‘at the elbow’ care support required by priority patient cohorts from Torres and Cape and Cairns and Hinterland regions, including First Nations peoples.

The paediatric sepsis Peer Mentoring Program (PMP) provides families with a child diagnosed with sepsis (surviving or bereaved) an opportunity for connection with others, validation, and normalisation of their experience.

Feedback from families indicated parents and carers felt isolated during and after their child’s hospital admission, and this sense of isolation was amplified by a lack of understanding and information about sepsis within the community.

The world first paediatric sepsis PMP was co-designed by consumers and is delivered by consumers, with input during the development stage from key stakeholders including The Australian Centre for Social Innovation. The PMP aims to provide families with the understanding, encouragement, and support which only another parent or carer who has walked a similar path can provide.

Sing to Connect is designed to leverage the potential of music, stories, and songs for the cultural wellbeing of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) mothers in the context of antenatal and postnatal care and education.

Literature testifies to the fact that poor health outcomes during this period may cause chronic disease with long term ramifications for the individual, family and health system. In addition to the benefits of singing for communities, the pressing needs for social inclusion in multicultural populations in Australia dictates the timeliness of community engagement programs.

By bringing together their CALD community of birthing mothers and families isolated by language barriers and other challenges related to refugee status, Sing to Connect foregrounds social connections and community wellbeing, as well as leading to greater engagement in healthcare and improved mental health outcomes.